Alba Berlin clearly lost in their home game against Euroleague leaders Barcelona despite a committed performance. FC Bayern Basketball conceded a surprising defeat in Athens
In front of 4500 spectators in the Max-Schmeling-Halle, Alba Berlin was only able to hold its own against FC Barcelona for short periods, especially in the second quarter. In the end, however, it was a clear 79:95 (39:47) defeat. This means that the chances of the German champions – listed twelfth in the elite league table – of a play-off place have been further reduced. The best Berlin scorers were Oscar da Silva with 13 points and Jaleen Smith with twelve.
Coach Israel Gonzalez had to do without the long-term injured Marcus Eriksson and Louis Olinde as well as national player Johannes Thiemann. In return, Maodo Lo was back. His team, however, needed to find its rhythm in the offensive. Too many free throws were missed right in the opening phase.
Alba, however, fought very hard defensively. In the middle of the first quarter, the hosts equalised again at 11:11. However, it was to remain the last draw. Whenever the Berliners fought back, Barcelona had an answer and punished mistakes ice-cold. And Alba made too many of those in the first half.
Barcelona remained unimpressed after the change of ends and scored almost at will. The hosts did not have much to counter this in this phase. The deficit grew to 22 points in the third quarter (51:73). Alba fought until the end and never gave up. However, they did not come closer than ten points.
“We made some unusual mistakes in the first half,” Gonzalez is quoted as saying on the club website. “To win against a team like this we have to play almost perfectly and that didn’t happen today. We can learn a lot from this game. We will try to continue our way and improve. “
Bayern with difficult start – and empty hands in the end
In the first game after their Corona break, FC Bayern Basketball also conceded a defeat. The Munich team lost 67:80 (35:42) at Panathinaikos Athens.
The Bavarians had a hard time at first after their two-week break and allowed 26 points in the first quarter. However, they then improved defensively and were able to reduce the deficit to three points. Athens, however, pulled away again and deservedly led 42:35 at the break.
After a weak start in the second half, the guests recovered in the middle of the third quarter. The throws from beyond the three-point line started to fall and coach Andrea Trincheri’s team even came within one point. But after the injury of point guard Vladimir Lucic four and a half minutes before the end, they only managed to score one more basket, so that the defeat was clear in the end.