KNBL Playoffs: Thunder, KPA Have One Foot In The Final After Weekend Wins

Despite having one foot in the final of the Kenya National Basketball Men’s Premier League, Nairobi City Thunder head coach Brad Ibs has admitted that it was not easy going past Equity Dumas in the semi-final playoff. Thunder, who are unbeaten this season, are closing in on the finals after a 2-0 win in the semi-final playoffs being played in best-of-five series at the Nyayo Gymnasium. Thunder won Game Two 69-66 on Sunday night, two days after winning the closely contested Game One 79-77 against the Bankers. “I don’t know what it is about these guys because it’s never easy playing against them. We are just grateful for any win that we get. The real winners of this series are the Kenyan basketball fans, it has been a show every single game, drama until the end,” Ibs said. Ibs understands it is not over until it is over with three games to go in the series, which are lined up for next weekend starting Friday. “We are going to keep on working and be ready for Friday's match. Our opponents are so energetic, they are very competitive. We want to make sure once we get a lead, we maintain it,” added the Thunder coach. On his part, Equity Dumas head coach Carrey Odhiambo was not impressed by his boys’ character in their last match, especially towards the end of the game which he believes cost them the win. “Our discipline towards the end of the game was very wanting, we started playing surface basketball instead of playing team basketball to the end which could have made our work easy. We don’t know how to play together to the end, and it’s something we need to get over,” noted Odhiambo. “Our focus is now on Game Three on Friday which we need to win for us to start thinking about Game Four and Five,” he added. In the Sunday night game, City Thunder started off badly losing the first quarter 13-19, before coming back strong in the second quarter to win 21-08 and led 34-27 at the break. After the break, Equity Dumas tried a comeback with an impressive win of 28-23 in the third quarter and reduced the gap to two points, as the score line read 57-55 in favour of Thunder. Thunder then finished with a narrow win of 12-11 in the fourth quarter as the game ended 69-66 at the final buzzer.
Other teams that are closing in on the finals are both men and women’s KPA teams, which won 2-0 each in the series in Nairobi, with the remaining games scheduled to take place in Mombasa next weekend. The Dockers only need one win to reach the final. Zetech Sparks and Equity Hawks are tied 1-1 in the series, with a showdown expected next weekend as each side seeks to win two of their remaining three games.
Courtesy of: citizen.digital