What a success: On their return to the SAP Garden, the Bayern basketball team defeated the big favorites AS Monaco 95:94 (53:40), their first ever win against the Final Four team at the eighth attempt. In front of 11,200 spectators, Gordon Herbert's team initially set off a 15-minute January firework display with a lead of up to 23 points, fell behind for the first time in the final phase - but triumphed in the end thanks to the 20th three-pointer in total, scored by Napier (17 points), and a stop by the outstanding returnee Weiler-Babb (18, Edwards 25).
It was the German champions' twelfth win of the season in the EuroLeague on matchday 21. They continue in 48 hours' time when they host Italian runners-up Virtus Bologna (20:30/MagentaSport).
FC Bayern Basketball - AS Monaco 95:94 (54:40)
FCBB:
Carsen Edwards (25 points, 4/6 3P), Nick Weiler-Babb (18, 6 assists, 3 steals), Devin Booker (17), Shabazz Napier (17), Johannes Voigtmann (9, 4 rebounds), Elias Harris (4), Niels Giffey (3), Andras Obst (2), Oscar da Silva, Ivan Kharchenkov, Danko Brankovic
Topscorer Monaco:
Mike James (20 points)
Referee
Emilio Perez, Jordi Aliaga and Guido Giovannetti
Attendance
11.500 (sold out)
Returning Weiler-Babb shines
So Bayern had Weiler-Babb back, who stood up despite the pain, as did da Silva. That gave them a boost: Weiler-Babb twice, Giffey, Voigtmann twice and Edwards twice, as well as Booker - Bayern were immediately there with threes. They defended hard and variably and opened up the court at the other end: 30:13 after an inspiring quarter.
Monaco began the second with a 6:0 run, but Bayern persevered, even with their bench players. And then it continued to rain down: The eleventh (of 13!) three-pointer to make it 46:23 (16'), crazy. However, top star James quickly opened the game up again with some tough shots.
FCBB hits 20 of 33 threes
Shortly after the break, the favorites were finally in the rear-view mirror and let their individual quality off the leash (56:50/23). It was now Edwards who kept Bayern ahead with his strong ratings (78:68/30).
The final act began with Voigtmann's fourth foul and, despite Napier's points, Monaco's princely guard combo could hardly be stopped in one-on-one situations to tie the scores at 88:88 in the 39th minute. Drama? Drama!
The visitors took the lead for the first time with 75 seconds remaining, 88:90, Edwards equalized, Booker again and Napier scored at 8.4 to make it 95:94. And then Weiler-Babb James closed the gap, the last shot stuck - victory.
Quotes:
Gordon Herbert, Head coach FC Bayern Basketball: "The first 15 minutes were some of the best basketball we've played this season. Then we lost the momentum a bit in the last five minutes. They are extremely talented and had a lot of big plays from their individual players. Before that, we moved the ball very well. But we knew at halftime that they were going to have a run. We just had to stay together. We then had great individual plays ourselves in the last two minutes and Nick had a great last sequence on defense at the end. It's an important win for us after losing three in a row. (...) We all saw how important Nick is for us with his defensive presence. When he wasn't on the pitch in the first half, we had problems. As I've said before, he's the best all-rounder in Germany. He was out for three weeks and then to come back like that is incredible. He played with confidence today. That's something you can't buy in a store, you have to develop it.”
Nick Weiler-Babb: "It was a tough situation at the end of the game. Shabazz makes the important three-pointer and before that Mike James knocks one in over me. Mike is known for taking important shots and hitting them. I just threw everything in and was lucky in the end. It feels good to be back and to have got the win. We want to build on that now.”
Carsen Edwards: "Big shoutout to Nick for that last sequence, that was strong. We stayed together even though they had a couple runs in the second half. The stops and the rebounds at the end decided the game.”