Champions League winners Telekom Baskets Bonn made a successful start to the Bundesliga playoffs three days after winning their first title in the club’s history.
In the late start of the quarterfinals, the winner of the main round won against the Niners Chemnitz 94:63 (38:33). Defending champion Alba Berlin equalized with a 91:77 (39:47) at ratiopharm Ulm in the best-of-five series to 1:1.
After his acclaimed triumph in the Champions League, the five-time runner-up Bonn managed to jump back into everyday league life at short notice. After five vice championships and three lost cup finals, the Baskets not only achieved the greatest success in their club’s history with a 77:70 win against Hapoel Jerusalem, but also clinched the fifth German European Cup title.
In the late start of the Bundesliga quarterfinals against the Niners, Chilean Sebastian Herrera became the best scorer with 24 points. The second game will take place again on Friday (8:30 p.m./MagentaSport) in Bonn’s Telekom Dome.
Before the third game on Friday (7:00 p.m. / MagentaSport), Alba kept his semi-final chances in front of his own audience. The first game took place in Berlin, where Alba suffered a 0:22 slump after halftime. Actually, the German champions would have had another home game afterwards, but since the Mercedes-Benz Arena was occupied on Wednesday, the order had to be changed.
The clear favorite also struggled in Ulm for a long time. Jaleen Smith was the best scorer for the Berliners with 18 points, while Brandon Paul (20) scored best for the hosts.