Bayern get the W against Red Star

The German Cup winner celebrates a EuroLeague party against Red Star Belgrade: In front of 6,500 fans at the sold-out BMW Park, including nearly 1,000 Serbians, the Bayern team secured their twelfth season victory in a heated pursuit duel. FC Bayern Basketball won all quarters, thus distancing a competitor for the moment by two victories plus the tie-breaker.

Full boxscore

Francisco out sick

Booker with 22 points and Ibaka (12) led a team that faced the opponent with passionate defense and late in the game lost Bonga to injury. In about 42 hours, Bayern will continue with the BBL top game against Telekom Baskets Bonn, beginning at 3:30 p.m. at the BMW Park.

22 points for Booker

Bayern missed their Cup MVP Francisco, who was ill, along with Weidemann. So initially Bolmaro brought the ball, but the pace was set by the guests (10:19/6.). The energizer off the bench was Obst - a three-pointer for the first lead (10.). Bayern defended much more physically, but there were gaps in defensive rebounds. Despite plenty of opportunities to pull away before halftime, they failed but did so after the break: 40:29 and 46:37, Bayern held on (27.).

Just a 53:51 lead

At the beginning of the final quarter, a heated fight finally developed, with Belgrade closing in at 51:53 (32.). Bonga then made the difference with two three-pointers but shortly afterward twisted his ankle. Nevertheless, the resilient collective secured the important victory. And Bonga could walk relatively comfortably again - a relief.

Quotes:

Pablo Laso, Head Coach FC Bayern Basketball: „Congratulations to my players. We knew it would be a tough week after the window, and it still is. Two days after Göttingen, we had Red Star, now Bonn is coming. The good thing is that I see my team ready to fight. They showed that today after the first three minutes, which were terrible. But afterward, we fought back against a strong team. It was a tough game, as always in the EuroLeague, and now we can think about the Play-Ins. That's why I'm very proud of my players. (…)

We were able to match their intensity after the first two and a half minutes, after which they had eleven points. I took a timeout, but in such a timeout, you don't need to say anything. If you continue to play like this, you will be outplayed. You have to put your body in, play hard, commit fouls – and it took a bit, but then we did it very well and got the win. We didn't hit everything, but we moved the ball well. (…) Great how we responded to the bad start.

Serge did a great job; he was our leader. But what I can say about everyone, aside from who scored how many points, is that we moved well, looked for the extra pass, and the right situation. Serge led us in those situations, even Luca was strong today, even if he didn't have a big scoring night. And Devin, who scored the most points, missed the easiest shots but made the tough ones – that's basketball. (…)

Except for Asvel, Berlin, and Madrid, everyone in the EuroLeague is fighting for their position. But we've already played against these three, so each of the seven games will be tough. I'm only focused on the next game now. And that's Bonn.“

Devin Booker: „My family is in town, which gave me a bit of extra motivation. But of course, I couldn't have played like that without my team. We defended very well today, especially in the first half. It was a very important win. We don't look at the table, we just focus on the next game.“

Serge Ibaka: „It was a very important game today, and it feels good that we won it. We played very well; the whole team did a good job, and now we focus on the next game. If we play against Efes like we did tonight, it's hard to beat us, but we need to have the exact same mentality as tonight. We shouldn't focus too much on the Play-Ins but always concentrate only on the next game.“