Who will make it to the O2? The big Sharks v Riders semi starts on Friday

Super League Basketball Playoff Semi Final

Who is going to the O2? A mouth-watering semi final clash between the B. Braun Sheffield Sharks and the Leicester Riders takes place this weekend to decide who will take on either London Lions or Newcastle Eagles in the capital on May 18th. The Sharks are 3-1 from the regular season, where both sides finished the campaign strongly. Leicester did take that final league game between the sides by 100-95 and marched into the semis by demolishing Bristol Flyers by 164-135. The Sharks were in irresistible mood in coming from 10 points down to send Cheshire Phoenix home by 178-171. It all adds up to another 80 minutes of thrilling Super League Basketball – unmissable stuff!

Friday – Sharks v Riders – Canon Medical Arena – 7.30pm

Tickets – https://app.fanbaseclub.com/Fan/Fixtures?fanStoreType=Fixtures&clubId=216

Sunday – Riders v Sharks – Mattioli Arena – 3.00pm

Watch - https://www.dazn.com/en-GB/fixture/ContentId:4vnw73g1rs1quqfw7u2rjfbbo/4vnw73g1rs1quqfw7u2rjfbbo

Ones To Watch

Zach Jackson – Supremely talented Riders forward, who averaged 17.7 points per game across regular season for his team. Made 17 against Bristol in their second leg win on a very tidy 8 of 11 shooting that also came with 2 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal.

Jaylin Hunter – Pass-first floor general, who led everyone in the SLB Championship with 7 dimes per game. Matched that in the second leg 86-80 win over Bristol and contributed a couple of big three point shots to ensure the Midlanders marched on in post-season.

Charles Thompson – Aggressive off the glass where he averaged 7.8 rebounds per game to be ranked third across the league season. Pulled down a further 6 boards against the Flyers in only 17 minutes of court-time as Leicester kept one eye of the semis to come.

Riley Abercrombie – Three point sharp-shooter for the Riders, whose valued contributions saw him on court for more than 30 minutes of each regular season game. Knocked down 75 triples at a 38% clip to be ranked third in the league and was just shy of a double-double with 10 points and 9 boards against Bristol last time out.

Last Meeting

April 11th 2025 – Leicester Riders 100 B. Braun Sheffield Sharks 95

Shark Bites

The Sharks and the Riders meet in the Playoffs for the 11th time this coming weekend but it will be the first time they have met at the semi final stage. The 10 previous match ups have come in 2 finals and 8 quarter finals. 2025 will be the third consecutive year the clubs have met in the post season with the Riders victorious in both legs in 2023 and the Sharks taking the honours last year.

Those 10 previous meetings in the Playoffs have been shared with 5 wins for each club.

Coaches Atiba Lyons and Rob Paternostro have now been coming up against one another for 17 seasons and have met 7 times in the Playoffs with Rob holding a 4-3 advantage.

In their 31 seasons, the Sharks have made the Playoff semi finals 18 times, winning 5 and losing 13.

Jordan Ratinho recently became the 5th player to reach 200 games played under Coach Atiba Lyons. The 201 reached by Jordan is only bettered by Olu Babalola (216), Colin Sing (225), Zach Gachette (243) and of course, Mike Tuck (500).

SharkNation

It’s your final chance to see your heroes in blue and yellow in The Tank this season! Cancel all your plans – the only place to be this Friday evening is at the Canon Medical Arena where we take on the Riders in the 1st leg of the Playoff semi final with a 7.30pm tip time. Hit the link higher up the page to secure your seat and prepare to bring your ‘A’ game. The noise was ridiculous last Sunday against Cheshire but it needs to be even louder on Friday! Your B. Braun Sharks deserve to show out on the highest stage at the O2 on Sunday week and they can only do that if you fill The Tank and send them on their way. With the B. Braun Sheffield Hatters also in semi final action on Sunday (1pm), it’s another stellar weekend for Sheffield Hoops. Get behind the teams and let’s see if we can add to that silverware collection. It’s time to #FearTheFin and #BiteBack.

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Josh Rackham