🏀 The Copper Box Arena is the place to be as London Lions take on Surrey Scorchers in the BBL Play-Off quarter-finals. Also in action are London Lions Women versus Caledonia Gladiators in the WBBL Play-Offs. It’s a double-header not to be missed!
🎟️ London Lions tickets are on sale here.
It wasn’t to be for London Lions who lost out to Paris Basketball in the semi-finals of the EuroCup after a historic run to the last four. Read more about that below. Now attention turns back to the BBL as Lions welcome Surrey Scorchers to Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for their final match on home soil ahead of the play-offs and London Lions tickets are on sale.
The 2022/2023 season was one to remember for the Lions who finished top of the BBL Championship table at the end of the regular season before defeating Leicester Riders 88-80 in the Play-Off Finals at The O2. The Lions had already won the BBL Cup final – once again defeating Leicester – to bring up a magnificent domestic treble.
Onwards and upwards the Lions have again been scaling great heights this season. They have already been confirmed BBL champions after a 105-89 win over fierce rivals Leicester Riders. The Londoners are top of the BBL table on 60 points courtesy of a superb record of 30 wins from 33 matches. They cannot be caught and now have their sights set on another Play-Off Final win.
Tonight they will look to sign off on the BBL regular season with victory against Surrey Scorchers, ahead of their play-off quarter-final scheduled for Sunday 28 April against opponents tbc.
EUROPEAN REVIEW
A big nine months of action for the Lions has included some memorable European moments. Last season they were the first British team in the 21-year history of the EuroCup to reach the play-offs. This season they made it to the semi-finals.
An annual professional basketball club competition organised by EuroLeague Basketball, EuroCup features 20 teams participating in two groups of ten. They play each other home and away, with 16 teams (the top-eight in each group) progressing to the play-offs.
London Lions men finished third in the Group A table to qualify for the knockout stages. The Lions were brilliant in parts and featured in some memorable matches. Including an extraordinary game against leaders Paris Basketball (who they meet again tonight) which went to double overtime. The French side finally prevailing 106-102 in a match played in front of London Lions’ the biggest crowd ever at the Copper Box. The Lions then reeled off five straight wins and were very unlucky not to make it six against against Veolia Towers Hamburg.
Another thrilling game featured a last-gasp 89-88 win over Ukraine’s Prometey Slobozhanske. Sam Dekker landing the all-important basket as the Lions turned the match around in the last minute to send the Copper Box Arena crowd into raptures.
EUROCUP KNOCKOUT STAGES
In the knockout stages, the Lions beat Turkey’s Telekom Ankara and Romania’s Club Napoca before meeting Paris in the last four.
London Lions were imperious in their EuroCup quarter-final against U-BT Cluj Napoca. The challenge was mighty: away from home against a Romanian side fuelled by a fiercely partisan crowd. But the Londoners would not be cowed and led by their talisman Sam Dekker scored a sensational 91-79 win that booked their place in the last four.
Alas, it wasn’t to be for the Londoners in the best-of-three semi-final against Paris Basketball. Game one in France ended 99-86 in favour of Paris. Game two took place at a sold-out Copper Box Arena where the Paris side took a deciding 2-0 lead in the tie, courtesy of a 93-85 victory over their hosts.
📆 See below for London Lions 2023/2024 fixtures and how to book home match tickets ⤵️
ONES TO WATCH
In a team packed with star performers London Lions No.7 Sam Dekker (pictured below) has stood out with a series of MVP (most valuable player) performances since becoming a Lions player. Dekker joined the Lions in the summer of 2022 having previously been a first round NBA Draft pick of the Houston Rockets. The 6’9″ Wisconsin native forward has also played over 200 NBA games featuring for the LA Clippers and Washington Wizards.
Such was Dekker’s imperious form he won the Molten BBL Player of the Year award. This followed a vote from BBL head coaches and captains where he was near-unanimously among their top three picks. And first for two-thirds of eligible voters.
Dekker has recently returned from injury and stamped his authority with a standout performance when it mattered most in the EuroCup quarter-finals. Introduced against U-BT Cluj-Napoca towards the end of the first quarter, by the time the final buzzer sounded Dekker had led London with a season-high 21 points in under 24 minutes. He made 5 of 8 two-pointers and 2 of 5 threes and also tallied 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal for a PIR of 23. The stuff of legend!
New player Matt Morgan has made an immediate impact for the Lions this season with some world-class performances. Morgan has lead the way in the scoring charts and his free-throw numbers have made him almost impossible to guard. On current form he is one of the most dangerous players in the league.
Luke Nelson was also a key player for the Lions last season, named in the Molten BBL All-British Team of the Year. A Great Britain stalwart Nelson has continued where he left off dictating the Lions offence as the team has maintained their unbeaten run in the BBL.
LONDON LIONS TICKETS, TIMINGS & TRAVEL INFO
🎟️ London Lions tickets are available via the ‘Get Tickets’ link.
🏀 BBL: Tip-off for London Lions v Surrey Scorchers on Thursday 18 April is at 7.45pm.
🚊🚗 Travel tips: Copper Box Arena. Public transport is recommended. The nearest railway stations are Hackney Wick overground and Stratford International station. Both are approximately a 15-minute walk. Stratford International is one stop (5 minutes) from London St Pancras on the Javelin train. Stratford (with links to the underground and DLR) station is about a 15-minute walk. Plan your journey at the Transport for London website. Limited parking is available at the Copper Box Arena, however parking is available at the nearby Westfield Shopping Centre.
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🏀 ABOUT THE BBL LEAGUE
(Information from the 22/23 season): The British Basketball League (BBL) is the top men’s professional league in the UK.
Running from September to May the primary competition is the BBL Championship. The 10 BBL teams all play each other four times (2H, 2A) across a 28-week season. This determines the top men’s team in British basketball. The current champions are London Lions.
At the end of the regular campaign the top eight teams in the BBL Championship progress to the BBL Championship Play-offs. Teams play each other home and away in the quarter-final round. The winners are decided on aggregate scores over the two legs. The semi-finals are also over two legs with the winners progressing to the final at The O2 in London. The current title holders are Leicester Riders who defeated London Lions 78-75 in the 2021/2022 final.
The BBL teams for season 2022/2023 are Bristol Flyers, Cheshire Phoenix, Caledonia Gladiators, Leicester Riders, London Lions. Manchester Giants, Newcastle Eagles, Plymouth City Patriots, Sheffield Sharks and Surrey Scorchers.
TROPHY & CUP
There are two knock-out competitions that run alongside the BBL Championship. The BBL Trophy has been a showpiece knockout tournament in British basketball for over 30 years. This year ten clubs are divided into two groups who will compete in a rond robin format. The top two teams from each group progress to a Final Four showdown at the Utilita Arena, Birmingham on the weekend of 27/28 January.
The BBL Cup involves just the BBL clubs and this year’s tournament is a knockout competition. Those teams who placed 1st-6th in the 2021-22 league season will receive a bye into the quarter-finals. Seeds 1-4 receive a guaranteed home date in the quarter-finals. The semi-finals will be an open draw. All rounds will be one-legged ties. The final is at Birmingham’s Utilita Arena in January 2023.
(BBL information courtesy of the British Basketball League website.)