When ALBA Berlin managed to hold off Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade 74-70 on Friday night to improve to a 10-14 record, it also kept alive its chances to reach the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs.
ALBA, still alive in playoffs race, heeded Sikma’s advice
Maodo Lo paced ALBA with 22 points. Luke Sikma scored 9 of his 13 points in the third quarter and also pulled down 9 rebounds. ALBA needed just about each of those points and rebounds to beat Zvezda, and thereby keep its winning momentum and playoff hopes going.
"From the outside looking in, everyone wants to talk about the playoffs", Sikma said post-game, but when it comes to the race, ALBA is on the outside looking in, two victories behind eighth-place, the last of those that come with a postseason berth, currently occupied by its German rival FC Bayern Munich.
This situation is a new one for the Berliners because they have never really been part of a EuroLeague playoff race this late in the season. Reaching the playoffs would be a historic success.
To do that, though, ALBA needs to keep winning. It still has four games left on the schedule, including three against other playoff hopefuls – Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, Anadolu Efes Istanbul and AS Monaco – all on the road. The task is far from easy, as the veteran Sikma knows.
"I tell the guys all the time, the most important is to just go 1-0," he said on TV after Friday’s game. "All you can worry about is the next game, especially with how many games we play. If you start looking too far ahead, it will cause some problems. I'm glad we went 1-0 tonight."