The first step has been taken, the second is to follow on Sunday evening: After the convincing 77-53 entry of the Bayern Basketball team into the playoff quarterfinals against the Niners of Chemnitz on Friday night, head coach Andrea Trinchieri's team would like to secure its second victory just 46 hours later in front of its own crowd at the Audi Dome. The opponent would then already be under a lot of pressure in the third duel of the best-of-five series next Friday (May 20, 20:30.) at the first home appearance at Messe Chemnitz.
Tip-off is at 20:30 on Sunday.
A look at the other three series proves how important the home court advantage is: Both first-seed Berlin (114.89 against Bamberg) and second-seed Bonn (100-98 overtime against Hamburg) are also 1-0 ahead; in the Swabian rivalry series fourth-seed Ludwigsburg won against its neighbor from Ulm on Saturday night (104-99).
Niners can't hit from three
It's a matter of attitude, above all, not to show any weakness as the favored team, that's what FCBB center Leon Radosevic said on Friday. "In the BBL, all teams have a lot of power, you have to get through the first 20 minutes, then we can play out our EuroLeague condition and quality," said the German-Croat, who went the longest distance for the FCBB in Game 1, playing 26 minutes.
Trinchieri was able to distribute the minutes well in view of the committed defensive performance after the break - and use all twelve players. Chemnitz managed only 22 points in the second half against a stubborn defense and the visiting team's field goal percentage was held at 39 percent, and from distance it was only 20% (6 of 30). In addition, the Bavarians repeatedly attacked their opponents successfully and drew fouls as 29 times the Munich team went to the line (Chemnitz: 8).
Nevertheless, the FCBB are warned: Friday's success was only the second in the sixth duel with the Niners, who still lead 4-2 in the direct comparison.