Johannes Thiemann from Alba Berlin wants to prevail in the third final against Munich under the basket Photo: Moritz Eden/City Press
From BZ/dpa
Instead of celebrating the title in front of their own fans on Friday evening, the defending champion experienced a debacle in the third final game against the permanent rival Bayern Munich after a weak offensive performance with 60:90 (33:52).
Alba clearly gambled away the first match ball for the Bundesliga championship. Nevertheless, the Berliners still lead 2-1 in the best-of-five series. In the fourth game on Sunday in Munich, Alba still has a match point.
Jaleen Smith from Alba Berlin and Ognjen Jaramaz from FC Bayern Munich in a duel Photo: Moritz Eden/City Press
The best Berlin throwers in front of 14,500 spectators in the sold-out arena at Ostbahnhof were Oscar da Silva with 15 points and Maodo Lo with ten points.
The game started for Alba with a 4:2 lead. However, it was to be the last in the game, as Bayern took over after that.
Alba seemed nervous and found no rhythm, especially offensively. While the Berliners still had the upper hand with rebounds in the first two games, this time the balls mostly landed with the guests.
In the second quarter, Bayern drew up to 22 points (22:44). Alba made too many ball losses and too many misses. Of twelve attempts beyond the three-point line in the first half, only one found its way into the basket.
Tamir Blatt from Alba Berlin and Zan Mark Sisko from FC Bayern Munich Basketball Photo: city press
Alba struggled after the change of sides, but they still didn’t succeed enough. Above all, the throw rate remained weak. Instead of fighting back, the gap even grew to 27 points (40:67) in the third quarter.
The Berliners didn’t stand a chance against strong Bayern players until the end. This also ended a series of 19 wins in a row for Alba.
