The basketball players from Alba Berlin have plenty of experience counting the games in a series for weeks. Only shortly before the turn of the year did they end their suffering of twelve defeats in the Euroleague with a win in Villeurbanne. Baskonia Vitoria’s streak lasted just as long, although the Spaniards had won twelve games in a row in all competitions and, quite surprisingly, led the Euroleague table.
At least until Thursday evening, because the Basques lost 84:85 (20:27, 28:27, 19:23, 17:8) in front of 6545 spectators in the MB Arena with Alba at the bottom. For the Berliners it was the fifth victory on the international stage this season. Best pitchers at Alba were Jaleen Smith (18 points) and Maodo Lo, Louis Olinde and Tamir Blatt (11 each).
In comparison to the victory in the Bundesliga against Frankfurt on Tuesday, Alba had rested Luke Sikma and Jaleen Smith, but Gabriele Procida was absent with a broken nose.
The Berliners started the game wide awake. They controlled the rebounds, attacked efficiently and defended with concentration. Baskonia has not yet found the rhythm that has carried them from victory to victory in the past few weeks. After a layup by Yanni Wetzell, Alba led by double digits for the first time shortly before the end of the first quarter.
However, that didn’t last long – and that was mainly due to Baskonia’s throws from distance. Pierria Henry had found just four of 21 three-pointers this season and Alba gave the playmaker a notable amount of space. Unfortunately from Berlin’s point of view, Henry had a good day and scored three times from long-range early on. Baskonia’s top scorer Markus Howard also showed why he is currently one of the players with the best form in the league.
Alba lost a bit of rhythm and the game structure. Both sides quarreled with the referees and for a short time it went back and forth quite wildly. But after Baskonia took the lead for the first time, Alba recovered. At 54:48 we went to the cabins.
The second half started at a tremendous pace. The Basques showed that they wanted to catch up quickly and they kept throwing, especially from a distance. However, Alba fought back and forced the surprise team to make mistakes. After a quick countermove from Maodo Lo, the Berliners were back in the double-digit lead, but as we all know, that doesn’t mean much in basketball.
Baskonia reacted as unfazed as comes with the confidence of many victories and Howard in particular was difficult to stop. But unlike two weeks ago against Maccabi, when Alba physically collapsed in the final phase, the team was still there – and set the right signals.
As Baskonia was about to get back within striking distance, Louis Olinde blocked Steven Enoch on one side and a few seconds later put the ball easily into the basket on the other side. Alba led 70:61, the crowd celebrated Olinde’s energetic performance and the guests took a time-out.
The brief interruption helped them visibly. Point by point, they worked their way back up and since the Berliners missed a few feasible shots, they were back on two points six minutes before the end. This time, Alba coach Israel Gonzalez responded with a time-out.
But Baskonia had now gained momentum and took the lead. The game seemed to be going in the visitors’ direction, but with good defense and a lot of effort Alba found an answer – and so the bottom of the table ended the impressive winning streak of the Basques despite only eight points in the final section.
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