April 3, 202 - With yesterday’s victory in Split, FMP Belgrade secured its place in the 2021/22 ABA League Play-Offs as one of six teams alongside Partizan and Red Star Belgrade, Budućnost, Igokea, and Olympia Ljubljana. These top six teams will still continue to battle for position in the next weeks to secure home-court advantage and possibly even a wild-card into the semi-finals.
The team that will finish the regular season at the top of the list (currently Red Star Belgrade with coach Dejan Radonjić) will secure a wild card into the semi-finals and will have a home-court advantage in both the semi-finals and the finals (should they win the best of three series). The runner-up (currently Partizan Belgrade coached by legendary Željko Obradović) will also have a wild card to go directly into the semi-finals.
.@KKBuducnostVOLI, @KKCedOL, @kkcrvenazvezda, @BCFMP, @BCIgokea and @PartizanBC have secured their spots in the 2021/22 AdmiralBet #ABALiga Playoffs! ??
— AdmiralBet ABA League (@ABA_League) April 3, 2022
What do you think, who will win the ?? pic.twitter.com/jMiAWVTFJ6
Teams 3-6 will play the quarter-finals third against sixth, to establish who will meet the runner-up and fourth against fifth to establish who will play against the regular-season champion. The finals will be played as a best of five series in a 2-2-1 format, meaning that the top seed team will start with two home games.
Meanwhile, KK Split player Toni Perković's dunk against FMP Belgrade was rightfully chosen as yesterday’s Play Of The Day. The David against Goliath set-up got the spectators at Gripe excited as it is not every day that you see a shooting guard dunk over a 208cm expert shot blocker like Ebuka Izundu.
ABA League Format:
The 14 teams play each other twice during the regular season to establish 6 teams that will play for the title, one team that will drop out of the league directly, and the “lucky 13th” having a chance to stay in the league by winning a best of three series against the runner-up of ABA League 2. The six teams that finish at the top of the league at the end of the regular season play each other in a playoff mode. The top two teams receive a wild card and enter the playoffs in the semi-finals, while the other four teams play each other first (3rd against 6th and 4th against 5th). The reigning champion is Red Star Belgrade who defeated Budućnost in a long 3-2 final series.
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