Alba Berlin suffers heavy defeat on Sikma's return
Alba Berlin was still leading narrowly at half-time in its Euroleague home game against Olympiakos Piraeus. After that, however, nothing went right and they ended up with their 14th defeat in their 17th game of the season. Even the return of one of the greatest players in the club's history can hardly diminish the disappointment.
Alba Berlin's basketball team suffered a defeat at the end of the first half of the Euroleague season. After a weak second half, the Bundesliga club lost 67:94 (43:40) at home to Greek champions Olympiakos Piraeus in front of 11,265 spectators. Alba has only won three of its 17 games in the top flight and remains bottom of the table. Only French representative ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne (2:15) is worse off than the Albatrosses at half-time in the top flight. Berlin's best scorers were Matt Thomas with 15 points and Matteo Spagnolo with eleven.
Things got emotional before the game. Luke Sikma, who spent six years in the service of Berlin, most recently as captain, was celebrated by the fans and honored by manager Marco Baldi. The 34-year-old, who moved to Piraeus in the summer, expressed his gratitude. With Sikma as leader, Alba won the championship for the first time in twelve years (three times in a row) and the cup twice, and also reached the final of the Eurocup in 2019.
The Berliners got off to a good start against Piraeus. Alba, which worked well in defense and scored effectively up front, was then able to open up a slight gap for the first time at the end of the first quarter. The lead grew to eleven points midway through the second period (34:23). However, Piraeus responded with far more physicality in defense and so Berlin's lead dwindled again at the break.
That continued after the break. Alba hardly managed anything in offense - just eight points in the third quarter. Piraeus turned the game around with a 27:8 run and did not let victory slip from its grasp. The home side literally collapsed. Piraeus, on the other hand, scored almost at will. The deficit grew to 20 points at the start of the final quarter (53:73). The game was thus decided early. Alec Peters excelled for the Greeks with 23 points and seven rebounds.
On Thursday evening, Bayern Munich was the second German representative to celebrate an 85:84 win at home against Valencia Basket. It was their eighth win in nine defeats, meaning Bayern still have a good chance of advancing to the play-in tournament. There, the teams in seventh to tenth place will play for the last two tickets for the quarter-finals.
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Source: www.ntv.de
