91:82, Bayern also defeats Monaco

They never tire, they are hungry: Bayern's basketball players celebrated their fourth victory in a row on Thursday evening. In their third game since Sunday, the German champions defeated favorites Monaco 91:82 (48:39) in a high-class duel. The Munich team sealed their twelfth win of the season in front of 10.250 fans thanks to a complete and super-focused team performance in the final quarter, despite 30 points from AS star James. The most effective Munich player alongside Obst (19) was center Gabriel with ten points and eight rebounds.

On Sunday, the BBL leaders continue in Heidelberg, and in the EuroLeague next Thursday at Maccabi Tel Aviv. The next home game is on Tuesday, February 17 (6:30 p.m., BMW Park), the dress rehearsal for the cup semifinal at SAP Garden against Bamberg (February 21, 4 p.m.).

Without Lucic, Dimitrijevic with buzzer

Team captain Lucic was again absent against Monaco due to illness, with Giffey replacing him in the starting lineup. Thanks to early three-pointers from Obst, Mike, and Jessup, as well as good work from big men McCormack and then Gabriel, the team got off to a good start, leading 19-12 in the 7th minute. 

Boxscore

The visitors then brought on bench player Mirotic, and Munich's man-to-man defense struggled to contain attacks on the board, allowing Monaco to take the lead (29:31/13.). Da Silva, who scored twice from outside, also picked up his third foul early on. And Obst was defended hard – but Voigtmann took advantage of the space after a fine ball movement, 38:32 (17th minute). Overall, it was a strong first half, especially in offense, with a rebound advantage (20:17) and a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Dimitrijevic.

Gabriel's energy, Obst's cap

On Tuesday, in the victory over Paris, little came from distance, but this time three more fell right after the restart, including Giffey to make it 60:50 (25th minute). Monaco, meanwhile, invited a shoot-out, with James almost unstoppable, bringing the score to just 63:60.

The final quarter, went into the red with a score of 72:63. When Mike hit the difficult three-pointer at the end of the clock to make it 79:67 and Gabriel Nedovic blocked (35th minute), the job was almost done. James, 35, had something to say about that, of course. But it was top scorer Obst who sealed the deal with his favorite move.

The Qoutes: 

Svetislav Pesic, Head Coach FC Bayern Basketball: "I'm really very proud of the team because we have so many problems at the moment, with two or three key players missing every game. Nevertheless, we had continuity in defense, which helped us a lot. We haven't been as successful in offense for a long time, but we invested so much in defense, with fighting spirit and rotation. They are the best offensive team and, along with Valencia, the best in transition, but we took that away from them with our defense. In the end, we couldn't stop Hifi a few times, but no one can when he's in rhythm. They never lost their concentration and kept their cool. It certainly wasn't our best game, but I'm happy with how we won. (...) We had 25 assists against such an aggressive defense."   

Andreas Obst: "The game was really intense. Paris always plays very fast and is a very transition-oriented team. You really have to be alert every second, after every shot or lost rebound. They played very aggressively and we made a lot of mistakes, but we stuck together as a team, moved the ball around, created open shots, and I'm very happy for the team that we won this game."   

Justinian Jessup: "It was a wild game, but in the end our defense won the game today. The game was very intense, they play so fast that you get tired quickly. Our goal is always to win the next game, that's what we focus on. We don't need to look at the standings, we're enjoying today and tomorrow we'll focus on the tough game against Monaco on Thursday. Our confidence is growing with every win and we are growing more and more as a team."   

Niels Giffey: "It really wasn't a pretty game, but it was incredibly fast-paced. In terms of character, it was more like a Paris game than our game, but you can't really play any other way against them. You have to attack their defense full-on, there's no other way. The initial adjustment period with the new coach is now over, we now understand what the coach wants and can adapt better."