BBL playoffs, 2021: Leicester too strong for Bristol while London ease past Cheshire
The BBL playoffs continue on Thursday night when Plymouth, Worcester, Newcastle and Sheffield compete for the final two places in the semi-final
Last Updated: 06/05/21 10:55am
Leicester Riders and London Lions both booked their place in the BBL Playoffs semi-finals on Wednesday evening.
Regular season champions Riders went into the second leg match up with a 29-point advantage, but it was the Flyers who got off to the better start. Following a good offensive first quarter, Flyers were ahead after the first with the score at 21-19.
Riders, however, kicked on in the second. A 30-point quarter started to take the game away from Flyers as they went into the halftime break 49-41 up. Both sides scored 24 points apiece in the third quarter and Riders added 19 in the last to come out 92-79 winners and book their place in the next round.
William Lee led the scoring for Riders with 17 points while Ben Mockford finished with a game-high 19 points for the visitors.
2021 BBL playoff quarter-finals, the story so far
| Monday | Leicester Riders 85 - 56 Bristol Flyers |
|---|---|
| Wednesday | Leicester Riders 92 - 79 Bristol Flyers |
| Leicester Riders 177 - 135 Bristol Flyers | |
| Monday | London Lions 73 - 66 Cheshire Phoenix |
| Wednesday | London Lions 95 - 60 Cheshire Phoenix |
| London Lions 168 - 126 Cheshire Phoenix | |
| Tuesday | Plymouth Raiders 84 - 82 Worcester Wolves (6th) |
| Newcastle Eagles 79 -77 Sheffield Sharks (5th) |
London Lions beat Cheshire Phoenix 95-60 in a superb display in Wednesday's second tip-off.
Lions went into the game seven points up after winning the first leg 73-66 and got off to a blistering start with 30 points in the first and second quarter to lead 60-31. It was a dominant first-half display from Lions who knocked down 13 three-pointers to blow Phoenix away.
Lions added another 24 and limited Phoenix to just 9 in the third to go into the last 84-40 up. Phoenix outscored Lions 20-11 in the last to reduce the deficit to 35 by the full-time whistle.
Dirk Williams finished with 17 points for Lions while Justin Robinson fell just short of a double double with 13 points and 9 assists. Matthew Bryan-Amaning scored 17 points against his former club as he led the scoring for Phoenix.
Lions and Riders will find out their semi-final opponents on Thursday as Newcastle Eagles face Sheffield Sharks and Plymouth Raiders face Worcester Warriors with both defending two-point advantages from the first leg.
Follow the WBBL and BBL play-offs on Sky Sports, right through to both finals which take place on Sunday, May 16.
