Will Alba Berlin be more robust against the Niners Chemnitz this time?
The Albatrosses make it exciting! Instead of living up to the high expectations in the Uber Arena, Berlin surprisingly let the opening game of the BBL playoff semi-final against Chemnitz slip away. The two teams went toe-to-toe for long stretches. However, Alba Berlin experienced a quarter to forget against Niners Chemnitz, contrary to the forecast of Oddset and Co. and temporarily gave the underdog the upper hand.
The shaken capital city club once again enters the court as clear favorites. Will the Berliners make another faux pas on Friday at 6:30 p.m. or will the Albatrosses manage to limit the offense of the well-coordinated Niners better this time? One thing is certain: another home loss would put the eleven-time German champions in an unpleasant predicament despite being the favorites in the playoff series
Now that the supposedly unequal teams have a match with an unexpectedly high number of points behind them, attractive odds are now available for betting tips on fewer points. Both teams have been caught cold in places by their opponents’ offense and are now making the necessary adjustments in defense to be more robust in this regard.
Anyone assuming that the favored Albatrosses in particular will cut a better figure in this regard could consider betting on under 169.5 points and still pick up odds of 1.78 at Bwin.
Alba Berlin – Statistics & current form
It should come as no surprise that the Berlin favorites have identified a number of areas where they need to improve after their unsuccessful start to the semi-finals. Of course, the Niners put in an impressive performance and collectively fought their way to a deserved triumph. Nevertheless, it simply cannot happen in a playoff semi-final to concede such a devastating 12:0 run at home against a supposed underdog as was the case in the second quarter of the first encounter.
Will Alba Berlin and the Niners Chemnitz manage to rehabilitate themselves in the second home clash or is everything set for another underdog triumph, contrary to the bookies’ odds? In addition to the exciting developments in the BBL playoffs, the European Football Championship in Germany will soon be exciting too!
Alba Berlin could not keep up with the aggressiveness of Niners Chemnitz
Consequentially, the adjustments Alba Berlin is making in preparation for the upcoming duel are of a defensive nature. It was not only the offensive rebounds conceded by the Niners that were a problem in the pivotal second quarter. There were also some significant weaknesses in offense. Too many turnovers in offense meant that the club from the capital city literally allowed itself to be taken by surprise by Chemnitz.
The Albatrosses visibly struggled to combat the Niners’ robust defense and match their aggression at the same time. However, the comeback qualities of head coach Israel Gonzalez’s charges should not be overlooked in the capital club’s sobering defeat.
After the setback from the previous game, the two teams played on equal terms in the second half. The favorites from Berlin even managed to build up a promising momentum in the final phase – but too late for a successful comeback. Is the next defeat for Alba Berlin against Niners Chemnitz imminent? In any case, odds of up to 1.45 imply that the favored team around world champion Johannes Thiemann is almost 69 percent likely to prevail
Niners Chemnitz – Statistics & current form
The Niners Chemnitz have kicked off the semi-finals of the BBL playoffs with a bang. The European Cup winners made an important statement with a surprise win against favorites Alba Berlin, who had home court to make matters worse. After the team of successful coach Rodrigo Pastore made the fans sit up and take notice in the quarter-finals with an unexpected home slip-up of their own against Rasta Vechta, the Niners are now fully back on track.
Chemnitz not only won the remaining two matches in the quarter-final series in commanding fashion. The strong 82:95 victory on the road to kick off the semi-final also gives the club from Saxony hope for the rest of the series. However, the starting position has not changed much for the bookmakers. According to the odds, Alba Berlin remains the clear favorite on home turf against Niners Chemnitz
Kevin Yebo is not the only reason for Niners Chemnitz’ success
At first glance, the surprising success in the latest duel against Berlin has one name in particular: Kevin Yebo. As the Niners’ top scorer, the 28-year-old not only shone with a haul of 23 points. Yebo also demonstrated impressive accuracy with his three-point attempts: In four out of five cases, the world-class basketball player’s three-pointers found their way into the basket!
On closer inspection, however, it becomes clear that the astonishing triumph in Berlin was due to the fruits of the work that Chemnitz had already diligently put in throughout the main round. A whopping 25 assists are an indicator that the success is not just down to the difference maker, but the outstanding team play of the cohesive collective.
Chemnitz also exploited another of its strengths to gain an important advantage: In an outstanding second quarter in particular, the Niners fired up the Berliners with numerous offensive rebounds and ensured a game-changing period. However, Coach Pastore is aware that even the strong start to the semi-final was not flawless. The 51-year-old vows above all to improve his low-post defense in order to contain the immense threat posed by Johannes Thiemann and Sterling Brown. Will Alba Berlin succeed in this endeavor or will it confirm the oddsmakers’ prediction and win against Niners Chemnitz after the recent surprise defeat?
Alba Berlin – Niners Chemnitz head-to-head comparison / H2H result
The sensational victory in the first semi-final duel was only the second triumph that Chemnitz has achieved in ten meetings with Berlin to date. The Albatrosses have won the remaining eight meetings. The Berlin favorites are also ahead in terms of the 856:795 points ratio.
Although Pastore’s team is one of the strongest away teams in the BBL and won the last game, the odds on another triumph between Alba Berlin and the Niners Chemnitz are much higher in the best sports betting apps than a tie in the playoff series
Alba Berlin – Niners Chemnitz betting tip
Given the fact that the Niners clinched their first triumph in the semi-final series against Berlin on the road, of all places, Chemnitz is in a favorable starting position. Giving up another home win carelessly would potentially have fatal consequences for the Albatrosses. Accordingly, it is unlikely that the capital city club will be caught out as cold as they were in the season opener.
In order to avoid another debacle, the favored team of Head Coach Gonzalez will be particularly keen to put in a better defensive performance against Kevin Yebo and Co. this time. Despite Chemnitz’s convincing performance in offense, the Niners also have one or two areas to rectify, including in defense.
We assume that the home side will not give the underdogs as free a hand this time as they did at the start of the semi-final. It will also be important for the Saxons to do their defensive homework. That’s why we’re backing a total of under 169.5 points for the next clash between Alba Berlin and Niners Chemnitz
