After an outstanding first half, Alba Berlin has successfully started the Euroleague season. In the 100:84 against Partizan Belgrade, the Berliners played themselves into a frenzy at times, especially on the offensive.
The Alba Berlin basketball team impressively won the first Euroleague game of the season. Against the Euroleague returnees Partizan Belgrade from Serbia, a rapid and respectable game developed from the start at 100:84 (61:43), which the hosting Berliners in the arena at Ostbahnhof decided in the first half. On the offensive, the Berliners were unstoppable at times. The best thrower of the Albatrosses was the Israeli Tamir Blatt with 16 points.
Alba with an 8-0 run in the first quarter
It was already clear in the first few seconds: Both teams will get down to business with great physique. However, the opponents did not neglect the scoring at all. The Albatrosses found their rhythm in the middle of the first quarter and forced the guests to play at their own pace. At the score of 16:16, the Berliners put on an 8-0 run – in this phase the hosts increased their shooting quotas. Almost two-thirds of the two-point attempts were successful – more than half of the three-point attempts found their way through the trap. As the top scorer in the first ten minutes, wingman Louis Olinde threw himself into the limelight – he contributed eight points. In the meantime, Partizan couldn’t counter the offensive power of the Albatrosses at all – the Berliners went into the first quarter break with a 15-point lead.
Host self-confident and almost intoxicated
Two scenes from the second quarter were symptomatic of the performance of the Berliners. Alba newcomer Gabriele Procida had his first minutes in the Euroleague and felt like he spent more time in the air than on the floor. Two crashing alley-oop dunks illustrated the self-confidence of the current German champions. In addition to the offensive marksmanship, the Berliners had outstanding pass security. By the middle of the second quarter, Alba had only lost two turnovers. So it was hardly surprising that the lead grew to 20 points in the meantime.
Five minutes before the half-time break, the hosts put in the first phase of weakness – the Serbs got into the game better and scored much more often. The break was 61:43 – offensively it was one of Alba’s strongest performances in the Euroleague.
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Only 16 Alba points in the third quarter
The albatrosses could not save the attack momentum of the first half in the third quarter. On the one hand, this was due to the dwindling precision of the throws, and on the other hand to the increasingly angry guests, who were now more concentrated in defense. Above all, Belgrade’s point guard Dante Exum was difficult to stop in this phase and contributed point by point (a total of 22 points). Alba wobbled in the third quarter, but the Berliners didn’t fall. The hosts scored just 16 points in the ten minutes after half-time. The guests couldn’t take advantage of that. For their part, they only scored 18 points. Alba went into the final quarter with a comfortable 16-point lead (77:61).
In this, the Berliners brought the lead to the finish and secured the first Euroleague victory of the season with 100:84 at the start. On Sunday, Alba continues in the Bundesliga – there the opponent is called Oldenburg.
Broadcast: rbb24, October 7th, 2022, 9:45 p.m
