Berlin takes game two

Everything tied up again: The Bayern basketball team suffered a not undeserved 70:79 (32:39) loss in the second playoff final against Alba Berlin. In the 28th sold-out game of the season at BMW Park, a good start was followed by a breakdown, particularly in the offense, and the cup winner was trailing by twelve points in the third quarter. The 6,500 fans then saw a late response from their team, but the visitors kept their cool.

Now two away games

After the 79:67 win in the opener, the series is now tied at 1:1. The best-of-five series now shifts twice to Berlin, with the third game taking place there on Wednesday at 8:30 PM. Dyn will broadcast as usual with a lead-in, and the game will also be freely accessible via the ARD stream on sportschau.de.

This time, Pablo Laso also had Francisco back in the squad alongside Weiler-Babb, though the Frenchman did not yet get any playtime.

Bayern started furiously and in the flow, making their first five three-pointers, 26:16 (10th minute). Berlin, with Thiemann back, remained calm, grabbed offensive rebounds, and took a 39:32 lead (19th minute). Bayern played imprecisely against a mobile defense, resulting in a 6:20 score in the second quarter.

Full boxscore

Hope thanks to Weiler-Babb

Then even 34:45 shortly after the break, and determination was now needed. Alba invested more, circulated the ball, and had Thomas (21) on fire. It was returnee Babb of all people who brought the momentum back within reach with two three-pointers, reducing the score to just 50:56 (30th minute).

However, missed dunks, layups, and defensive plays, along with a clear majority of fouls called against them (25:15), stood in the way of taking over the game. Overall, physicality, focus, and pace rarely reached FCBB's level – five minutes before the end, Alba led decisively at 71:56.

Quotes

Pablo Laso, Head coach FC Bayern Basketball: "Congratulations to Alba on the victory. We were able to make shots at the beginning, but not later on. Two days ago, we celebrated a good win, but today we were not better. The stats are clear. (...) For me, basketball is not just about the flow but about making shots. We played smoothly at the start because we made our shots. But basketball is more than that; by halftime, we had given up 17 points from offensive rebounds. (...) We did not execute our attacks well. It's over, and now we have to be ready for Wednesday."

Andreas Obst: "We have to blame ourselves for not getting stops on defense. Of course, some external factors work against you, but we need to focus on the things we can control, like turnovers or rebounds. If you don't lose the ball, you have to run back less, can play better defense, and have better shots on offense. The rest we can't control. In Berlin, we need to mentally focus on ourselves again and stay stable; we can't control the surrounding circumstances."       

Israel Gonzalez, Head coach ALBA BERLIN: "I am happy today about the strong effort, the determination, the smart play, and the teamwork. I think we played great defense today, fought hard for rebounds, and got more steals. I am glad about the win; now we need sleep and a break."

easyCredit BBL Playoff finals 2024 (Series: 1:1)

Game 3 – Wednesday, June 12 , 8:30 pm: Berlin – FCBB

Game 4 – Friday, June 14, 6 pm: Berlin – FCBB

*Game 5 – Sunday, June 17, 5 pm: FCBB – Berlin

* = if necessary