64:58, Bayern keeps Kaunas at bay.

They simply stay on track: FC Bayern Basketball has the last EuroLeague Play-In spot back in sight - after the  64:58 (33:21) victory over Lithuania's reigning champions Zalgiris Kaunas for the 13th season win, the cup winner is now level on points with tenth-placed Partizan and Valencia. The Munich team will play against them next Wednesday. 

6,500 fans, full house

On Andrea Trinchieri's return, Pablo Laso's team showed a convincing team performance on defense in front of 6,500 fans at the sold-out BMW Park. Booker (20) and all-rounder Weiler-Babb (10/3 steals) carried the heaviest load. Bayern has also won the tie-breaker over the Lithuanians.

Still without Obst

Without the still resting world champion Andi Obst (thigh), Bayern initially had trouble making their shots. Booker broke the spell and increased the lead to 12:6 (7.), while strong rebounding work was also done on the defensive end.

In particular, Weiler-Babb defended excellently against top scorer Evans for a long time, leading to a lead of 31:16 (18.).

50:32, then Zalgiris responds

Kaunas' offense also struggled against Bayern's brilliant defense in the third quarter. When Weiler-Babb and Edwards sunk their threes, the victory seemed secure - 50:32 (29.).

Of course, it wasn't over yet; it's the EuroLeague, and Kaunas fought fiercely to keep the game close - only two points in four minutes, narrowing the lead to 52:44 (34.). It even got closer, but the nerves held.

Quotes:

Pablo Laso: "I didn't know that this was my 250th win in the EuroLeague; they told me after the game. But I want to congratulate my players who fought from the beginning. That was one of our best defensive games; we contested almost every situation. They are not easy to play against, and it's rarely fun to play against them because they play very hard and physical. They have players who are really good. But we held them to 21 points in the first half, and that was enough to claim it until the end, even though Evans then scored points in a row. (...) My team has recovered a bit in the last few days and has been able to train, so we could control the game through defense. We couldn't train with 14, 15 people for over a month because of injuries and national teams. (...) Although we were often open, we only made six of 22 threes against their good defense. But Devin was great, Serge and Danko, although they didn't have exceptional numbers, both played strong at the five. (...) If you ask Andi, he's okay, but we wanted to protect him from a longer injury. The doctors said to take him out for a few days for that reason. But I hope we'll have him back next week."

Devin Booker: "Before the game, the coach told us how important it is for us to play good defense, especially against a team like this. We played very solid in the first half. Against a team that likes to shoot, it's important that we secure the rebounds, and we succeeded."

Nick Weiler-Babb: "Both teams put up a big fight. Many shots were missed; it was definitely a defensive battle. We played hard and as a team. Against a team that is in a similar table position, the win is especially important. Keenan Evans is an insane player. I've known him since I was a kid. We played together for a year in high school. It was nice to see him again and a challenge to defend him."

Isaac Bonga: "We want to start a run in the final phase of the EuroLeague. Every game counts; it's a bit like do-or-die to make it to the playoffs. Today was definitely a good start. We wanted to work on our defense, and today we showed how well we can defend as a team. We targeted the poor defenders in the offensive, which definitely helped us. The last two games were a wake-up call; before that, we had a run in a lot of games. The two losses showed us that we need to play well for over 40 minutes. It was cool to see Trinchieri again. He was my first coach after my return to Germany, so it was good to see him again."