The German basketball champion Alba Berlin is only one win away from the title hat-trick in the basketball Bundesliga.
Coach Israel Gonzalez’s team won 71-58 (38-26) at Bayern Munich, their 19th game in a row. In the best-of-five series, the capital club increased to 2-0. The Berliners can already secure the title with a third win in front of a home crowd on Friday.
Alba Berlin players cheer after the game. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa
Photo: Sven Hoppe
In a fast-paced but often error-prone game in Munich’s Audi Dome, Maodo Lo and Jaleen Smith, each with 13 points for Alba, and Munich’s Deshaun Thomas, also with 13 points, were their team’s most successful shots.
Albas da Silva: “It’s just a stage win”
“We played very well, but it’s only a stage win,” said Berlin’s coach Oscar da Silva at Magentasport. The most important game is now on Friday and it would be nice to be able to close the sack then. “We want to treat our home crowd to it,” said the 23-year-old.
Munich coach Andrea Trinchieri struggled with the first half in particular. “We had a very bad first half on offense. We tried a few things in the second half, but that was definitely not enough,” said the Italian. Alba deserved to win. “They were better.” Trinchieri didn’t want to lose the championship just yet: “Never stop fighting.”
Munich’s managing director Marko Pesic wanted to get the necessary push from the stands – but without the injured leading player Vladimir Lucic, his team messed up the start and was quickly 2:7 behind. After there had been a festival of three in game one, both teams failed several times from distance in a confused early phase. The fact that Alba was only leading 18:16 at the end of the first quarter was due to their own lack of concentration on the offensive. In front of Bayern’s honorary president Uli Hoeneß, FCB coach Andrea Trinchieri gesticulated in his usual rage.
Alba can decide it on Friday in the home game
As a result, both teams’ graduation rates remained weak. Alba defended cleverly without provoking fouls. The energy storage of the Munich team seemed to have been used up after the exertions of the past few weeks. Berlin’s Oscar da Silva increased the lead to 24:18 with a remarkable dunk in the middle of the second quarter. Alba coach Gonzalez now saw a variable game from his team, which increasingly benefited from mistakes made by the home side in the build-up game. National player Maodo Lo ensured the deserved 38:26 break with a lay-up.
After half-time and a hearty speech by Trinchieri, the Munich team fought at eye level in the first few minutes. Andi Obst’s first three at 33:44 caused a tremor in the sold-out arena. But stubborn Berliners were unimpressed and combined at will in the direction of the FCB basket. After a temporary 17-point lead, the game looked like a Berlin training game and not like a championship final.
Driven by their home crowd, the Munich team tried to release their last reserves of strength in the final sprint. But the mortgage from the first quarters was too big. Last year’s champion from the capital brought the comfortable lead over time and can already become champion with a win in game three.
