Playoffs begin Friday and Sunday at the Audi Dome
Bayern Basketball is guaranteed to head into postseason as the number three seed following the 77-65 away win in Ulm on Friday night. Bonn will take the number two seed thanks to their better head-to-head record, while Berlin is already confirmed as the top seed following the corona-enforced cancellation of their game against Braunschweig and the resulting quotient ruling.
The schedule for the first quarterfinal home games has also been confirmed: the playoffs will begin for Bayern this coming Friday (5/13) at the Audi Dome, which is also the venue for Game 2 the following Sunday. Tipoff for both is expected to be at 20:30 CEST. Only the opponent remains unclear. There’s a strong chance that Ulm will finish sixth as they did last season, although Ludwigsburg and Chemnitz could both still end up in that spot too.
The 2022 playoffs will be played in a best-of-five, 2-2-1 format, meaning the better-seeded team will start with two home games, as well as a potential Game 5 also offering home advantage.
Alba Berlin visit on Tuesday
So the pressure is off for today’s home game against Göttingen and for Alba Berlin’s visit on Tuesday night (5/10, 20:30 CEST), meaning Bayern can focus on getting playoff ready. While pride is at stake in the meeting with the division leaders, today’s game offers coach Andrea Trinchieri a chance to rotate.
The playoffs are already out of reach for BG. The Lower Saxony side have seen their hopes dwindle over the past weeks, down in large to some bad luck with injuries. Last weekend saw them beaten 90-87 by already relegated Gießen.
BG sit ninth
They have struggled to compensate for the absence MVP candidate Kamar Baldwin (19 ppg) after his injury, although newly signed playmaker Jeremiah Martin (18 ppg) has performed well. The season has also ended early for American guard Jake Toolson (11.8 ppg) because of injury. Opposition coach Roel Moors will be absent from the game in Munich due to a suspension too – Olivier Foucart will deputise for him.
With 16 wins, this is already BG’s best season since 2014/15 and a ninth-place finish could still offer European qualification, something Göttingen certainly has ambitions to achieve.