In the end, things turned out as predicted before the season – in Alba Berlin and FC Bayern Munich, the two heavyweights will meet in the final of the German basketball championship.

The final series, in which a team has to win three games to win the title, starts on Friday (8.30 p.m. at MagentaSport) in Berlin.

For Munich this means that they have to play their fourth encounter within seven days.

In contrast to the Berliners, they had to work a lot of overtime in their semi-final duel with Telekom Baskets Bonn.

Bayern doggedly, Alba with ease

Bayern won their fifth game on the Rhine on Wednesday, thus deciding the series 3-2 in their favour.

The Bonn team, the surprise team of the season, demanded everything from the favorites and, after two defeats at home, equalized with narrow successes in the Bavarian state capital before the Munich team deservedly prevailed.

Bayern's advancement was hard-fought and achieved through hard and dogged work, while Berliners have been riding a wave of ease in recent weeks.

Defending champion Berlin goes into the final with a series of 17 victories and after a week's break is significantly more rested than its competitor, who traveled directly from Bonn to the Spree.

This factor could play a major role in the opening game in particular, but then lose importance.

In contrast to the quarterfinals and semifinals, home law changes from game to game in the finals.

This gives Bayern a little break before the second meeting on Tuesday.

Overall, both teams go into their fourth final duel in five years with an almost ludicrous workload.

The Berliners have already completed 77 compulsory games this season, and Bayern are even up to 80. Even if the Munich team was able to reach the play-offs in the Euroleague, unlike Alba, the Berliners are the favorites in the final series.

In terms of personnel, head coach Israel Gonzalez has plenty to draw from.

Even Marcus Eriksson might be fit again.

Berlin's best long-range thrower was injured for more than four months, so the question arises as to whether his participation offers more risks than opportunities.

How quickly can the Swede find his rhythm again, to what extent does his reintegration affect the rhythm of the team?

Even without the 28-year-old, the Berliners have six high-quality foreigners, while the Munich team has a total of nine in their ranks, but according to the regulations, three of them always have to sit out.

With Corey Walden and Darrun Hilliard both injured, however, coach Andrea Trinchieri's options are limited.

Berliners score with German players

The decisive advantage of the Berliners is anyway on the German positions.

Paul Zipser currently plays no role at Bayern.

After the national player was able to take his first steps at the end of the main round after his brain operation last summer, these play-offs are still too early for him.

So much responsibility rests on Nihad Djedovic, Andreas Obst and Leon Radosevic.

While Djedovic has been convincing at both ends of the field so far, Obst has shown defensive weaknesses here and there and Radosevic lacked the touch when throwing.

The Berliners are completely different.

In Johannes Thiemann, Maodo Lo and Oscar da Silva, who is said to be being courted by Barcelona, ​​the three best scorers in the play-offs have a German passport.

60.4 percent of all points in the Berlin series against Bamberg and Ludwigsburg went to German players.

This is an unbelievable value and underlines the depth and balance of the main round first.

Game and point shares of the local players have increased again in the play-offs.

Gonzalez is thus consistently continuing the development that his predecessor Aíto Garcia Reneses initiated.

The self-image of the Berlin captain Luke Sikma is also remarkable.

As one of the best power forwards on the continent, he takes a back seat as a scorer and always puts his teammates in the limelight with his game intelligence and passing ability.

The team maintains a free and extremely attractive basketball on the offensive, which is characterized by high speed.

Munich, on the other hand, like it much slower in order to play to the physical advantages of their team close to the board.

In recent years, the Bavarians have always been credited with the more pragmatic and promising approach, while the Berliners are said to often die in beauty in the decisive moments.

Should they become champions for the second time in a row and, like last year, defeat their big rival in the final series, this narrative would be history.

The author was coach of the year twice.