The Bayern basketball team returned home at midnight on Monday after an 82-72 victory in Ludwigsburg, which leveled the series at 1-1. There is not much time until the next duel with the first seed whose home winning streak of a good two years without a defeat was ended in the MHP Arena. With the steal of game two, the Cup winner has now earned at least a second home duel in the Audi Dome, on Friday. The Audi Dome will be the scene of an already intense best-of-five series starting at 20:30 each night. A possible deciding game would again take place in Ludwigsburg on Sunday.
Game three on Wednesday will be broadcast as usual by MagentaSport and also on free TV by Sport1. The fourth game on Friday evening can be seen in the "Kino am Olympiasee". As with the first two sold-out public viewings, tickets are only available online (https://www.kinoamolympiasee.de/). Admission is one hour before kick-off, Corona tests are currently not required.
Strong defense, strong odds
"It's 1-1 and it was important to come back after the lackadaisical performance in the first game," Bayern head coach Andrea Trinchieri stated after his team's convincing performance on Monday night. Top scorer D.J. Seeley (22 points in 21 minutes, 73% from the field) reported tired legs the day after, "but we have to keep bringing that intensity and energy now."
Ludwigsburg remains "a dangerous, very good team," Trinchieri also warned against nonchalance. However, the fact that his team is a contender for the playoff finals with the right approach, despite their enormous season workload, is proven by their current playoff shooting percentages: With an average of 86 points, they currently have the best offense, and their two-point (55.7%) and especially their three-point (46.8%) percentages are also tops. For comparison: In the main round, the scoring rate from distance was still a solid 35.7 percent but nowhere near their current playoff absurdity.
D.J. Seeley, who joined the FCBB ffrom Zaragoza in December, has made a significant contribution: with 18.3 points after six playoff games, the shooting guard is currently the FCBB's top scorer, ahead of the ever-reliable machine Vladimir Lucic (16 ppg) and national player Paul Zipser (15.3). Seely's three-point percentage is sitting at a blazing hot 66.7%.
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Just as important as the offensive output, however, were the American's industrious performances in Ludwigsburg on the defensive end as well, from Robin Amaize against giant top scorer Jaleen Smith (9 points) orcenter Leon Radosevic against the top scorer of the first game, Jamel McLean (10 points after 27 in Game 1). Collectively, they won the reboundoing duel (32-30) and only the 19 turnovers will need to be improved on Wednesday, as Seeley said: "We have to take care of the ball even better."
