"TJ was just insane today," Baskets coach Tuomas Iisalo also praised his match-winner. "I don't think I've ever seen such a performance. But we also needed it today." His counterpart on the Chemnitz side, Rodrigo Pastore, also had only words of praise, but for the entire Baskets team. "That was an absolutely deserved victory for Bonn, they are rightly top of the table." And can Bonn also become champions? Pastore: "With Tuomas as coach, they can do anything they want."

And yet a small drop of bitterness and a big question mark remained for the Baskets. After his break due to a slight injury, Jeremy Morgan had returned to the starting five. But only for ten seconds. Then the working day of the recently so outstanding American was already over again. Morgan went to the basket, was blocked, fell and banged his head against the basket. The forward remained dazed on the floor, was then led out of the hall by physio Bogdan Suciu after a short treatment break - and immediately taken to hospital for examination. A precise diagnosis was still pending in the evening.

His teammates were not intimidated by this shock, however, but immediately put Chemnitz under pressure with aggressive defence and took a 10:4 lead. Especially Shorts, who had last scored "only" twelve points in the Champions League duel at Reggio Emilia, immediately turned up the heat. Three-man moves with a basket, steal and basket, two goals from half-distance - in the first quarter alone, the little Baskets guard scored eleven points.

But when he was given a few minutes' rest on the bench, the Baskets offence briefly faltered. Chemnitz came back to within 14:12. Shorts stepped up - and with two throws from the American and an extra free throw, the score was 19:13. And yet Shorts was only the offensive enforcer in the first half, the Baskets' true strength lay in their intensity. In other words, in exactly the area that coach Tuomas Iisalo has been preaching over and over again since he took over at the Hardtberg and has demanded ad nauseam in training. This intensity could be seen in the unconditional commitment of every basketball player and the attempt to simply get every ball. Like Mike Kessens, who threw himself behind a ball to save it from going out of bounds. Or Finn Delany, who rushed after the ball at the halfway line to force a throw-in. Or Karsten Tadda, who "conquered" an offensive foul under Chemnitz' basket during a throw-in. In addition, there were several blocks and nine steals in the first half alone.

But after the change, the Baskets initially lost their sovereignty. Chemnitz became better and better, especially on the offensive end, and now hit their threes much better. While Bonn hardly wanted anything to fall, the guests caught up in no time - and suddenly led 50:49 in the 27th minute after a three-pointer by Marko Filipovity.

From now on, the game became a matter for the boss. Because now Shorts took over for good. Three threes, two throws from the middle distance, the last one with the buzzer at the end of the quarter, and Shorts had put the game back at 60:53 with 13 points. The fans were already unstoppable, celebrating their hero with a loud "MVP" chorus.

But the game was not over yet. Chemnitz stayed in the game and came back to 61:60. But there was still Shorts: Three-pointer, incredible two-pointer, another three-pointer. The game was decided at 74:65.

The Baskets have to play once more this year. On Thursday (8.30 p.m.), the Skyliners Frankfurt come to the already almost sold-out Telekom Dome.

Bonn: Shorts 38 points/6 threes, Ward 7/1, Ensminger 2, Kessens 2, Herrera 11/1, Tadda 2, Morgan, Kratzer 3 (8 rebounds), Williams 5, Delany 10/2

Chemnitz: Weidemann 7/1, Uguak 11/2, Richter 6, Binapfl, George, Velicka 10/2, Susinskas 14/2, Lockhart 6/1, Filipovity 17/4, Yebo 2

(Original text: Tobias Schild; Translation: Mareike Graepel)