Secure 83:67 win over Ludwigsburg

The pressure was enormous, but the Bayern basketball players held their ground with a lot of fighting spirit: The cup winner, urgently needed after the 98:102 loss in the playoff opener against Ludwigsburg, handled the job overall with confidence and evened the score to 1:1. In front of 6,400 fans in the almost sold-out BMW Park, Pablo Laso's team won all quarters and the second quarterfinal 83:67 (43:33).

The best-of-five series now moves twice to Ludwigsburg, with Game 3 starting on Wednesday at 6:30 PM and broadcast on Dyn.

All game statistics

Francisco also has to wait

In addition to missing Weiler-Babb (calf), Bayern also missed Francisco (knee), who was also rested with a view to Wednesday. Top scorers: Edwards (21), Ibaka (16), and World Champion Bonga (18/11 rebounds), who also organized a lot of playmaking.

2:9 after a good four minutes, the favorite started the game poorly and too hesitantly. But the champions Giffey and Bonga then brought intensity off the bench and together scored 15 points to make it 21:19 after the first quarter.

A small lineup dimmed the guests' three-point shooting percentage, which was still at 42 percent on Saturday (down to 23 percent). Instead, Lucic hit a three, and Bayern led 35:24 (17th minute).

Strong performances from Giffey, Edwards and Bonga

Shortly after the break, FCBB led by 14 points (49:35/23rd minute), just like on Saturday - and this time? This time, they countered the rising chaos with physicality, contained the shooters, and cleverly finished in front through Giffey as well as from the outside through Edwards and Bonga - 61:41 (29th minute).

When four shots in a row missed, the score narrowed to 66:55. Edwards and Ibaka broke the deadlock, ensuring the last minutes of the evening were not a nail-biter. The strong Munich field goal percentage reached 58 percent.

Quotes:

Pablo Laso: “We leave Munich with a 1-1 because this time we had control from the start, even when we were behind. We defended much better, attacked their shots, and moved the ball better ourselves. Many guys gave us exceptional performances in various positions. Bonga's game was great, not just because of his numbers. He occupied different positions and was the one who caused them the most problems defensively: with rebounding, passing, bringing the ball forward, posting up. For me, Bonga was very important today, and everyone on our team understood the job well, contesting their shooters at all times. (…).

We adjusted a few things on defense to get into the series. Against Ludwigsburg, you need more than just scoring a lot of points. Today, I would have liked fewer turnovers, but we played hard against them. (…) On defense, we showed our pride. In the first game, they scored too easily. We had a few problems offensively, but we could rely on our defense. That’s important because we have been the best defensive team in Germany so far. However, we also know that it will be very difficult again in Ludwigsburg.”

Isaac Bonga: “Today we showed that we defended better than last time. You can’t allow Ludwigsburg to score 35 points in the last quarter like in the last game. We just defended very well, and then it’s hard to beat us. In the last game, that just wasn’t us (in Game 1), especially defensively, but also in terms of energy. Today, we showed what we are actually capable of. We expect it to become even more physical and heated now. But we also want to play our game in Ludwigsburg, be aggressive, and win.”

Serge Ibaka: “We were focused and aggressive from the start. Offensively, we started a bit weak, but we took good shots. We knew it wouldn’t be easy today because they gained confidence in the last game. But we kept pushing and stuck together. Sometimes you need to be down to know what you have to do. After the first game, we knew we needed to play real basketball again. Now it’s the playoffs, the most important time of the year, and we have to focus on the next game.”