11am - Tier 1 Bracket
4th Takathur vs 5th Kursi:
The teams split the regular season meetings with a default win for Takathur and a 64-32 win for Kursi. Both teams have great balance and Takathur plays a solid half court offense that has always served them well. For Kursi the wildcard is that you don't know which version of the team will show up - literally. Injuries forced them to use a mind boggling 20 players this season but they have their core roster ready for the playoffs now. A key match-up to watch will be Faizal Merali of Takathur against Soban Ali of Kursi.
12pm - Tier 2 Bracket
T1 7th Adiyat vs T2 7th Asr
Adiyat had plans for a big playoff run for the Tier-1 championship that came to a crashing end last week where they lost their Play-In game against Tamjeed and moved to the T2 Playoffs. Two of their key players are not playoff eligible but the rest of their roster is still strong enough to compete. The pressure will be on Nouraiz Akbar, Hamza Chaudhary and Assim Chaudhary to do the bulk of the scoring for Adiyat. Asr finished in 7th place but were in a 3-way tie for 5th place with all tie-breakers going against them. Asr had the worst three point shooting percentage as a team in T2 so better shot selection from the outside coupled with post work by Uzair Danish and Sajjawal Khan is the key for them to pull off an upset here.
1pm - Tier 1 Bracket
T1 1st Ikhlas vs T2 1st Qariyah
Ikhlas rolled through the regular season to a first place finish and their trio of Zakariya Tmj Khan, Zamam Khan and Chad Mondesir makes them a difficult match-up. These teams did not face each other in the regular season but have familiarity with each other. Qariyah advanced to the T1 Playoff Bracket by defeating Bayyina in the Play-In game, the reward of facing Ikhlas seems cruel but they were able to dominate T2 competition with a 13-1 record. They rely upon Saad Ahmad to pace the offense with Rohan Mohammed Ghori providing the outside shooting to spread the floor. An unsung hero from them this season was Babur Ali who quietly finished as their 3rd leading scorer/rebounder and never stops working.
2pm - Tier 2 Bracket
3rd Zilzal vs 6th Ma'un
Zilzal had a strong season with a 8-6 record (contrasted to Ma'un 6-8 record) and come into this one confident. The teams split the regular season meetings, Ma'un winning first 58-40 and Zilzal taking the second game 69-63. There is also a personal element between these teams that are very familiar with each other and that Ahmed Khalid of Zilzal gets a chance to show his former team that it was a mistake to trade him away early in the season. Fareed Cheema and Rizwan Rana will be tasked with doing the scoring although rumours are circulating that Fareed Cheema has an injury coming into this game. Ma'un will be looking to Jamal Khan to lead the offense and Moazzam Sheikh will be needed for support but the key will be the rest of their offense providing support on both sides of the ball. Production from "Big Ticket" The-Sarim Khan and "Swaggy D" Daniyal Zia along with shooting from Akhyar Khan and Asfandyar Khan will be what gets them the upset.
3pm - Tier 1 Bracket
T1 2nd Nas vs T2 2nd Tamjeed
Tamjeed pulled off the upset win over Adiyat in the Play-In game and advanced only to find Nas waiting for them. Records aside this game also features multiple players from Nas getting a chance to face their former team as Jamal SaugaCity Bundy Douglas and Bilal Forde had successful stints with Tamjeed, highlighted with Jamal Douglas winning an MVP in his time there. Jim Ex also filled in with Tamjeed for a season before building Nas so the personal ties are rich between these teams. Tamjeed will need to play a strong and balanced effort to have a chance here, if they allow Nas to start running and gunning then they will be out of their element.
4pm - Tier 1 Bracket
3rd Fatiha vs 6th Falaq
Fatiha swept the season series between these two but by the slimmest of margins, winning the first game 45-43 with the winner going in at the buzzer and then 43-39 in a game that was close right to the end but they held on. Both teams have great balance and strong players so this one should be a great one to watch. Falaq will need Ahsan Mahmood and Sherif Shehata to lead the backcourt, that said Sherif Shehata sat last week with a knee injury so if he cannot go today it's a big loss for Falaq. Fatiha will have to control the Falaq bigs better than they did last week and if they play their solid brand of team defense they should be able to control the game flow and rely upon Arsalan Jamil to lead them.
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