Alba lags behind: Bayern basketball players make a confident start to the playoffs

The FC Bayern basketball players are taking the first step towards the final series of the German championship, and the former dominator from Berlin is immediately forced to chase after them.

After a detour into the playoffs, Alba Berlin's winning streak came to an end in the quarterfinals of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL). The former series champions lost 83-94 (40-45) to ratiopharm Ulm, falling behind 0-1 in the best-of-five series. The second game will take place on Wednesday (8 p.m./Dyn) in Berlin.

After an overall disappointing regular season, the seventh-place team advanced to the playoffs via the play-in tournament and is the underdog in its clash with second-place Ulm. Against the 2023 champions, the Berlin team, who have won four consecutive games, kept the game exciting for a long time, but fell behind decisively in the third quarter (22-30). Noa Essengue, a candidate for this year's NBA draft, was Ulm's top scorer with 21 points.

Like Ulm, FC Bayern Munich also lived up to its role as favorites. In their BBL debut at the SAP Garden, which had previously only hosted EuroLeague games for the Munich team, the champions defeated cup winners Syntainics MBC 78-60 (41-27). Like Alba, the team from Weissenfels had qualified for the round of eight via the play-ins.

Five Bayern players scored in double figures, Shabazz Napier scored 12 points, and captain Vladimir Lucic grabbed a solid 12 rebounds. MBC eliminated Munich in the cup semifinals at home.

The Chemnitz Niners, fourth in the final standings, lost their first quarterfinal match against the MLP Academics Heidelberg (5th) 90-93 (44-46), thus losing their home-court advantage. Victor Bailey Jr. for Chemnitz and Ryan Mikesell for Heidelberg were the top scorers with 27 points each. The match continues on Tuesday (8:00 p.m./Dyn).