In the top game of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) between Telekom Baskets Bonn and Alba Berlin on Tuesday evening (April 25, 2023), it will probably also be decided who finishes the season in first place. The people of Bonn have grown into challengers and have already brought new excitement to the title race.
Alba Berlin seems ready for the summit against Bonn. Gabriel Prochida underlined this again in a spectacular way in the game against Rostock on Sunday: In the third quarter, the Italian stole the ball from the opponent and then took off for a dunk, but turned around in the air again before he hit the Ball pocketed in the basket. A so-called “360 dunks“, which one otherwise sees on American outdoor courts, but rather rarely in the basketball league.
Berlin’s Tim Schneider provided the last highlight of the game, cracking the 100-point mark with a three-pointer shortly before the end. The teammates on the bench gave the obligatory donut sign as a reminder to Schneider, who had to use it to spend a round of donuts for the team. Regulars like Louis Olinde or Johannes Thiemann had long made themselves comfortable there and followed the sovereign 104:79 victory, the eleventh league win in a row, from outside.
Bonn versus Berlin – top duel for first place in the BBL
Luke Sikma and Maodo Lo, the two leaders of the Berliners, were even allowed to sit out completely and recharge their batteries for the most important game of the season so far: Because on Tuesday evening (7 p.m., live ticker on sportschau.de) the Berliners are eliminated from second place Bonn on.
In the top game on Matchday 31, the preliminary decision should also be made as to who finishes the regular season in first place. And thus has home rights in the playoffs, up to a possible fifth game in the final series. Berlin and Bonn are currently on par, at least after defeats. Leader Berlin (29 wins, two defeats) has played two more games than Bonn (27:2), the Berliners also narrowly won the first leg (81:76) and are therefore still ahead in a direct comparison. In any case, the loser of the top duel could no longer make it to first place on his own. “We look forward to the game“Said Berlin’s Malte Delow on “Magentasport”. “We want to be first, so we have to win.”
Alba wants first place – just no semi-finals against Bayern
First place should also be of particular interest for the Berliners in view of the rest of the table situation: Because of the playoff arithmetic, Alba, as the first in the main round, would in all likelihood only meet FC Bayern in the final, the permanent rival of recent years. “Of course nobody wants to play against Bayern in the semifinals“said Berlin’s managing director Marco Baldi to “dpa”.
Alba already lost the semi-finals in the cup against Bayern this season, and with it the first title of the season. In all likelihood, FC Bayern will only finish third in the league this time. Munich already has six defeats under their belt, with four games left it would theoretically be possible to at least intercept Bonn in the end.
Bonn with the best season in its BBL history
But at the same time highly unlikely, because the Rhinelanders have also been very stable this season: they have even won fourteen games in a row in the league. And this despite the fact that they have been up since December Jeremy Morgan, one of their most important players, have to do without. The American, who had scored an average of 16 points up to that point and had excelled in defence, suffered a complicated neck injury. The people of Bonn didn’t let this and other failures stop them: They continued to dominate the league, with 27 wins they are already playing their best season in BBL history. In the Champions League they also achieved that Final Four and reach for the first international title.
Bonn continues to have the best offensive in the league (89.2 points on average). Led by the unstoppable game designer TJ shortswho is also a top favorite in the league’s most valuable player (“MVP“) applies. In addition to the outstanding shorts, the Bonners also function as a team, with a clear division of roles, tactically excellently adjusted by coach Tuomas Iisalo. The Finn is considered one of the up-and-coming coaches in the European scene, and in his first season he has Bonn after into the semi-finals after many dry years and thus breathed new life into the traditional basketball location.
Bonn as a challenger to Alba and FC Bayern
The Telekom Baskets can already look back on themselves as a success that they have turned the long duel in German basketball between Berlin and Munich into a real three-way battle for the title. At the masters in Berlin they now see Bonn as a real contender for the title: “Bonn is the best team this season“, Berlin’s coach Israel Gonzalez told the “sid”.
“You’ve put on an incredible streak. They are very confident, almost domineering and confident in what they do“said Alba managing director Baldi before the game at the sold-out Hardtberg in Bonn, where the Berliners also compete against 6,000 fans. “We have to keep a cool head“, said Baldi.
But it may not be the last duel of the season, and both will see each other again in the playoffs: in the championship final.