Alba Berlin and the Niners Chemnitz have made a successful start to the playoffs of the Basketball Bundesliga. The Berliners clearly won the first quarter-final game at home against Telekom Baskets Bonn on Friday evening (May 17, 2024) with 94:68 (41:31). Chemnitz prevailed against Rasta Vechta with 83:77 (42:34).
Alba and Chemnitz are each leading 1-0 in the best-of-five series. The next games for both teams will take place on Sunday. Berlin and Chemnitz have home advantage again before the third game goes to Bonn and Vechta next Tuesday.
Berlin superior in front of its home audience
For the hosts from Berlin, Louis Olinde returned after an injury break, but Justin Bean, who had been in great form recently, was missing. He had sprained his ankle during training. The game started out very disjointed and there was no real rhythm at first. Alba quickly took the lead 10:3, but Bonn was able to equalize immediately. The defensive lines dominated on both sides.
The Berliners allowed themselves to lose too many balls and missed too many shots at the beginning of the second quarter. The guests took advantage of this and took the lead for the first time in the game (25:21). Only a 10-0 run right before halftime gave Alba a double-digit lead at the break.
Bonn defends itself with a lot of physicality
And the hosts continued there seamlessly after the break. Bonn continued to defend itself with a lot of physicality, but the Berliners were able to extend their lead. At the end of the third quarter this had increased to 19 points (68:49). And Alba confidently reached the finish line and was even able to save regular players. The best Berlin throwers were Matt Thomas with 18 and Johannes Thiemann with 12 points.
In Chemnitz duel at eye level
The two surprise teams Chemnitz and Vechta initially fought a duel at eye level. However, Europe Cup winner Chemnitz had the better defense and was also superior to promoted team Vechta in the end. As a result, the Saxons pulled away in the third quarter. But Vechta never gave up and put in a strong final quarter. In the end, the Niners saved the victory. The best throwers were Deandre Lansdowne (Chemnitz/22) and Tommy Kuhse (Vechta/18).