Dominant Bayern have playoff match points

FC Bayern Basketball is on the verge of the 2024 BBL Finals: Against the surprisingly strong Würzburg team, Pablo Laso's men celebrated a wire-to-wire victory. After the 99:75 (48:44) win, they lead 2-0.

At the end of the third quarter, the cup winner decisively pulled away in the sold-out BMW Park. Lucic (14), Bonga (14), Edwards (14), Booker (11), Harris (10), and Ibaka (10) scored in double digits - and all twelve players got on the court and scored. As a team, they once again totaled 25 assists.

Full Boxscore

Ticket sales are underway

Bayern now have the chance to prematurely end the best-of-five series on Sunday (3 PM/Dyn). In any case, another home game will take place, for which ticket sales are now open: a possible Game 5 of the semifinals on Thursday (June 6) or the first final on Saturday, June 8 (both at 8:30 PM).

To the ticket shop

In the parallel duel, Berlin achieved a 1-1 tie with an 86-64 win over Chemnitz.

The guest exploits the gaps

Once again without the recovering Francisco and Weiler-Babb, FCBB faced an opponent who started boldly this time and hit threes (22:21/10). With seven offensive rebounds already in the first quarter, Munich's early strength was defined. However, the defense revealed too many gaps until halftime - it remained close, too close.

Bonga steps up

The patterns remained the same in the third quarter, with Würzburg's one-on-one attacks too often ending successfully in the paint (60:55/26). Bonga's energy and Edwards' buzzer-beater three-pointer then enabled the first pull away to 73:60 (30).

A small lineup featuring the three world champions and Harris eventually showed beautiful plays and could already be certain of the next step towards the final at 85:65 (34) - the crowd celebrated appropriately.

Quotes:

Pablo Laso, Head Coach FC Bayern Basketball: “Congratulations to my players on the win. I think we understood that it would be tough. They (Würzburg) had a very good first half and showed why they are here. You have to give them a lot of respect. But we were also able to make adjustments in the first half and what was needed during halftime. Our second half was very good, where we had our biggest lead. But it remains a matter of 40 minutes. I'm glad everyone could play because we play again in less than 48 hours, on Sunday at three. We know how strong Würzburg is at home. We are very close to the finals, but not there yet. (...)

Everyone played for each other today, Andi alone had six assists. We had 25 assists like in the first game; this shows how well we play for each other despite the absence of Nick and Sylvain; a slightly different but good basketball.”

Elias Harris: “We gave Würzburg too many second chances in the first half. They were very aggressive on the offensive boards, which made life difficult for us. As a team, we managed to adjust after halftime and put our stamp on the game. Everyone was aggressive in defense, which was crucial for us to get back into the game through rebounds. (...) I completely put myself at the service of the team. It's never about scoring for me; I just want to have an impact, whether it's rebounding or communicating.”

Vladimir Lucic: “We had some problems. Würzburg often plays a zone defense, which disrupts our rhythm. In the first half, we didn't do a good job rebounding. In the end, we stuck together and found a way to break the zone. It was important that we made our shots; we also moved the ball well and definitely deserved the win in the end. (...) Home advantage is very important, especially since it's very difficult to play in Würzburg. You must not forget that they beat the German champion Ulm. The next game is in less than 48 hours, so we have to prepare for it now.”

easyCredit BBL Playoff Semifinals 2024 (Current standing: 2-0):

Sunday, June 2, 3 PM: Würzburg Baskets – FCBB

*Tuesday, June 4, 8:30 PM: Würzburg Baskets – FCBB

*Thursday, June 6, 8:30 PM: FCBB – Würzburg Baskets

* = if necessary