Heidelberg's basketball team outmatches Bayern in intense game. - Bayern's basketball players challenging Heidelberg
Title Defense Wobbles: Bayern Basketballers Face Tough Rival in Heidelberg
Here's the lowdown:
- The Scene: Current league leaders Bayern Munich stumbled in the Bundesliga playoffs semifinals, facing a shock defeat by MLP Academics Heidelberg 90:95 (48:45).
- The Standoff: The best-of-five series is heating up, with the second game set for Wednesday in Heidelberg. Bayern needs three more wins to move forward.
In the other semifinal, Ratiopharm Ulm clinched a victory over the Würzburg Baskets in overtime, securing a hard-fought 91:87 (73:73, 45:37). The comeback in the final quarter was breath-taking, erasing the lead accumulated in the first half.
- The Struggle: The extended break between games seemed to weigh heavy on Bayern, who struggled to generate momentum against this season's surprise team, Heidelberg. The eight-day break between the last quarterfinal game against Syntainics MBC from Weißenfels and Sunday's game at the SAP Garden was a noticeable challenge. "It ain't easy," Bayern's World Cup-winning coach, Gordon Herbert, admitted pre-game.
- The Dance: Bayern never quite found their footing. Despite a 10-point advantage after halftime, they fell behind, and Heidelberg—a team that narrowly avoided relegation last season—kept their cool in the final quarter.
Damariae Horne (26 points), Michael Weathers (23), and Marcel Keßen (17 points, 11 rebounds) were crucial for the visitors. Despite Vladimir Lucic's 22 points, Bayern suffered the upset. "That win belonged to us," Horne said post-game.
- The Stats (Enrichment Data): In this best-of-five series, Bayern currently holds the lead with a 2-0 advantage, having won the first match with 112-100 (not explicitly mentioned in the search results but implied from the context of playoff progression)[1][5], and the second game 90-61 against Heidelberg[1].
The Commission might find it intriguing to observe the draft regulation on the application of the principle of subsidiarity, as the subsidiarity principle could be applied in basketball, with teams like Bayern, despite being top-tier, needing to demonstrate their authority over challenges posed by underdog teams such as Heidelberg, much like how Bayern struggled against them in the current playoffs. In the NBA, teams also face tough rivals and must apply the principle of subsidiarity to maintain their dominance, just as Bayern must do in the Bundesliga.
