It just won't work with the third EuroLeague victory: In the game without fans in Belgrade against Maccabi Tel Aviv, FC Bayern Basketball once again lost unluckily and avoidably on Thursday evening - with a score of 90:93 (43:46) against the Israeli record champion, FCBB fell back to 2:5 victories.
A significantly improved and traditionally combative performance, especially due to turnovers, did not receive any reward, even in the crunch time. Edwards scored 17 points, and Ibaka scored 16.
23 turnovers are too much.
On Sunday (5 PM), Bayern faces the Telekom Baskets Bonn in the BBL top game. In the EuroLeague, Partizan Belgrade comes to the BMW Park on Wednesday (8:30 PM).
Maccabi Tel Aviv - FC Bayern Basketball 93:90 (46:44)
- FCBB:Carsen Edwards (17 points), Serge Ibaka (16, 7/7 2PT), Leandro Bolmaro (12, 5 Assists), Devin Booker (11), Isaac Bonga (8), Sylvain Francisco (7), Andreas Obst (7), Nick Weiler-Babb (5), Niels Giffey (4), Danko Brankovic (3), Elias Harris, Freddie Gillespie
- Top scorer Tel Aviv:Bonzie Colson (19 points)
- RefereeSasa Pukl, Tomasz Trawicki, Huysein Celik
- Attendance0
Both teams quickly ignored the inhospitable atmosphere, and despite turnovers, Bayern got into the game: A good defense was the foundation for a 7:2 lead and a 19:17 score after the first quarter. The ball movement was also good in the second quarter, allowing the three-pointer to finally drop, while Maccabi's top duo, Baldwin/Brown, was initially under control (36:31/16.).
Opportunity to take the lead
A lot of freedom for the opponent in outside shooting and rebounding turned the game narrowly towards the break. Turnovers were once again the theme after the restart, and Maccabi threatened to pull away, leading 58:67 (29.). Interesting calls were added, but as often, Bayern fought passionately for their chance.
The chance seemed to have finally come three minutes before the end at 82:83 through Bolmaro (37.) - before the young Argentine lost the ball during the attack for a possible lead and then again. Too much.
Quotes:
Pablo Laso, Head Coach FCBB: "Congratulations to Maccabi on the win. I think we had a pretty solid game in many situations, both offensively and defensively. But when you lose the ball 23 times, it becomes difficult. What else can I say about the game? I think we played very well, did good things on defense. Maybe we should have gotten a few more rebounds. But when you lose the ball 23 times, it becomes tough. Kudos to Maccabi: We knew we had to match their physicality, and we didn't manage that. We lost the ball in crucial moments, and we need to learn from that for the future. It's hard to say that I'm happy with our game when we don't get a win, but I believe we did many good things that allowed us to stay in the game despite the turnovers."
Niels Giffey: "That was a game that could have gone in our direction, but we made life difficult for ourselves with many turnovers. The opportunity was there, even though we fought, we squandered it in the end."