2026 playoffs: do or die games in Bucharest, Groningen, Manchester
- marisnoviks
- 6 hours ago
- 4 min read
Three single elimination games are to be played on Tuesday, March 10. The 2025 ENBL champions CSO Voluntari will host the 2025 semifinalists Slovan Bratislava. The 2026 Coach of the Year Jason Dourisseau and Donar Groningen are facing BK Opava. Manchester Basketball in their first European playoff game will meet Dubrava Zagreb.
CSO Voluntari vs Slovan Bratislava
Playoff experience: both teams have repeatedly qualified for the ENBL playoffs, while CSO Voluntari did it for the third year straight (2024, 2025, 2026).
CSO Voluntari reached the 2024 final and became the 2025 ENBL champions – the first team to play in back-to-back league finals.
Slovan Bratislava – then Inter Bratislava – became the first team in ENBL history to post 10 consecutive victories in one season, and eventually finished in the fourth place at the 2025 Final 4.
Series history: CSO Voluntari (7-1) will face Slovan Bratislava (4-4) for the second time.
CSO Voluntari won the semifinal battle against then Inter Bratislava, 107-103, on April 8, 2025, at the iconic Gopass arena to advance to the 2025 gold medal game.
CSO Voluntari are 4-0 on the home floor, including a 87-83 win against SYNTAINICS MBC.
Slovan Bratislava are 3-1 on the road after wins at Manchester Basketball, at Keila Coolbet and at Gimle Basket.
National championships: CSO Voluntari are 16-4 at the Liga Nationala, trailing only to Oradea.
CSO Voluntari won at Ploiesti CSM, 97-94, on March 5.
Slovan Bratislava are 17-12 at the Tipos SBL.
Slovan Bratislava are on a three games winning streak, capped by a 95-90 success at Lucenec on March 7.
Know your referees
Crew chief: Pierre Gillis (Belgium) – FIBA referee from 2021, Belgium top league referee from 2017.
Umpire 1: Serban Rasoga (Romania) – referee from 2002, Liga Nationala referee from 2010.
Umpire 2: Eduard Uhrin (Slovakia) – FIBA referee from 2021, Slovakia top league referee from 2018.
Observer (at the video): Oskars Lucis (Latvia).
ENBL access: follow the game on YouTube
Donar Groningen vs BK Opava
Playoff experience: both teams have qualified to the ENBL playoffs for the first time.
BK Opava finished ninth in 2025, missing playoffs with a 5-3 record, while Donar Groningen finished thirteenth with a 2-6 record.
Series history: Donar Groningen (5-3) will face BK Opava (5-3) for the second time.
BK Opava won the first encounter, 88-86, on February 4, 2025, at the Hala Opava.
Jakub Slavik tied the game at 86 with 27.3 seconds left on the game clock.
Ludek Jurečka sealed the deal for the home team.
Donar Groningen are 3-1 on the home floor after back-to-back-to-back wins against TalTech/ALEXELA, Fyllingen Lions and Alkar Sinj.
BK Opava are 1-3 on the road thanks to a 94-84 success at Keila Coolbet.
National championships: Donar Groningen are 11-8 at the BNXT league, third among Dutch clubs after Den Bosch (13-8) and ZZ Leiden (13-9).
Donar won the 75th anniversary home game against Union Mons, 92-85, on March 8.
Jason Dourisseau will receive the 2026 ENBL Coach of the Year award on Tuesday.
BK Opava are 14-14 at the MAXA NBL Top eight.
BK Opava lost at Nymburk, 78-96, on March 7.
Know your referees
Crew chief: Christopher Curle (United Kingdom) – referee from 2016, national referee from 2019, Super League Basketball referee from 2023.
Umpire 1: Bert Van Slooten (Netherlands) – Dutch league referee from 2001, FIBA referee from 2005.
Umpire 2: Petr Hrusa (Czechia) – FIBA referee from 2010, has worked at the 2013 EuroLeague Women Final Eight in Yekaterinburg, Basketball Champions league referee 2016-2021.
Observer (on the spot): Tanel Suslov (Estonia).
ENBL access: follow the game on YouTube
Manchester Basketball vs Dubrava Zagreb
Playoff experience: both teams have qualified to the ENBL playoffs for the first time.
Manchester Basketball is the third club from the United Kingdom to play in the ENBL playoffs after Bristol Flyers (2024) and Newcastle Eagles (2024, runner up 2025).
Both teams from Croatian capital – Dubrava and Dinamo – have qualified for the ENBL playoffs.
Dinamo Zagreb will face the winners of a duel between Manchester Basketball and Dubrava Zagreb.
Series history: Manchester Basketball (6-2) will face Dubrava Zagreb (4-4) for the first time.
Manchester Basketball are 3-1 on the home floor after wins over Keila Coolbet, SIGAL Prishtina and BK Opava.
Dubrava Zagreb are 0-4 on the road and 4-0 on the home floor.
National championships: Manchester Basketball are 13-10 at the Super League Basketball.
Manchester Basketball won at the London Lions, 72-71, on March 4, and defeated the Caledonia Gladiators, 101-78, on March 6.
Dubrava Zagreb are 9-13 at the Premijer liga.
Dubrava Zagreb won at Cedevita Junior, 95-78, on March 7.
Know your referees
Crew chief: Bogna Podkowinska (Poland) – Basket Liga Kobiet referee from 2018, Orlen PLK referee from 2022, FIBA referee from 2022, ENBL referee from 2023; has worked at the Alpe Adria Cup (AAC) from 2018.
Umpire 1: Jonathan Vickerstaff (United Kingdom) – referee from 2002, National league referee from 2006, BBL and Super League Basketball referee from 2017.
Umpire 2: Marko Stankovic (Croatia) – Premijer liga referee from 2014, ABA 2 league referee 2016-2022; has worked at the Croatian finals three times.
Observer (on the spot): Oskars Lucis (Latvia).
ENBL access: follow the game on YouTube
2026 ENBL playoffs | local time | CET
Wednesday, March 4
(7) Dziki Warszawa 97-84 Valmiera Glass ViA (10)
Tuesday, March 10
19:00 | 18:00 (3) CSO Voluntari – Slovan Bratislava (14)
19:30 | 19:30 (8) Donar Groningen – BK Opava (9)
19:00 | 20:00 (5) Manchester Basketball – Dubrava Zagreb (12)
Wednesday, March 11
19:45 | 18:45 (2) Iraklis BC – TalTech/ALEXELA (15)
19:30 | 19:30 (1) SYNTAINICS MBC – BK Olomoucko (16)
19:15 | 20:15 (6) Tindastoll – Riga Zelli (11)
Thursday, March 12
19:15 | 19:15 (4) Dinamo Zagreb walkover vs SIGAL Prishtina (13)
March 17-April 2, quarterfinals
Best-of-two, home and away series
April 21-23, Final Four
Location and final dates to be confirmed
Information on schedule updates
Please, return here for updates (UPD1, UPD2) or search ENBL schedule.
2026 ENBL playoffs and bracket
Live blog: the playoffs are coming