12 things to look out for in the Final

MALAGA (Spain) - The joy of culminating Season Seven of the Basketball Champions League by being crowned champions is one win away for both Telekom Baskets Bonn and Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem.

Bonn got here after defeating hosts Unicaja who had the support of their home fans inside the Martin Carpena arena. Bonn led 69-67 and TJ Shorts II had two free-throw attempts to seal the game, but missed both, leaving the door open for Unicaja to tie or win the game. Kendrick Perry went for the win, but his three-point attempt hit the front rim.

Jerusalem got here after taking down defending champions Lenovo Tenerife. The Israeli club led by as many as 15 points and also by 10 points heading into the fourth quarter, but Tenerife made their comeback.

Siim-Sander Vene knocked down a couple clutch shots down the stretch, one three-pointer to tie the game at 61 and then converted a four-point play to tie the game at 67. Khadeen Carrington sealed the deal with a driving layup to put Jerusalem on top for good, 69-68.

Here's 12 things you need to know ahead of the Final on May 14 at 20:00 CET:

Bonn and Jerusalem will be the first German and Israeli teams, respectfully, to take part in a BCL Final. Previously, five countries managed to have teams reach the championship game including France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Turkey.

For only the second time in the history of the BCL, there will be no Spanish team in the Final. The other time this happened was back in 2018 when Monaco and AEK faced each other in the championship.

For the third season in a row, the BCL Final Four/Quarter-Finals host will not take part in the Final after reaching the title game in three of the first four editions.

Only Hapoel Atsmon Holon averaged more points per 100 possessions this season (116.6) in the BCL than Bonn (116); Jerusalem have conceded fewer points per game on average than any team in the BCL this season (70.9).

Bonn (20) and Jerusalem (18) both had their fewest points scored in the paint in a BCL game this season in the Semi-Finals; Bonn also finished with their lowest field goal percentage in a BCL game this season in their Semi-Final game (39 percent).

No player from either Bonn or Jerusalem has ever previously played in a BCL Final; the last time this happened in a BCL Final was in 2018 when Monaco faced AEK.

Bonn head coach Tuomas Iisalo will become the youngest coach to manage a team in a BCL Final (40 years and 289 days).

Bonn's TJ Shorts has combined for 20+ points and 5+ assists in eight BCL games this season, including in three of his four games since the beginning of the Quarter-Finals, more than any other player in a single BCL season; no player has managed to achieve that stat combination in a BCL Final.

Bonn have only lost one of their last 15 games in the BCL (77-76 v Strasbourg in the Quarter-Finals); they also scored fewer than 70 points only once in their last 20 games in the competition, but it was in their Semi-Final win against Unicaja (69-67).

Jerusalem have won 12 of their last 14 BCL games but only four of those 14 games ended up with double-digit margins; they have won five of their six BCL games played against German teams in the competition.

Jerusalem have seen five of their BCL games this season ending up with a single-possession margin, tied for the most alongside BAXI Manresa and SIG Strasbourg; Jerusalem were able to win all five of those games.

Jerusalem's Khadeen Carrington (205 points) became the second player to score 200+ points off the bench in a single BCL season since the beginning of 2019-20, alongside Kasey Shepherd who did so back in the 2020-21 season (213 points). [/unordered]