Johnson shines in commanding 94-79 win at Braunschweig

Thanks to a strong overall performance, FC Bayern's basketball team won its road game against Löwen Braunschweig with a commanding 94-79 final score and thus established itself at the top of the BBL. For Andrea Trinchieri's team, it was the fifth win in the last ten days, and their Bundesliga record now stands at 17-4.

The top scorers were the two remaining big men, JaJuan Johnson (22 points in 21 minutes) and Jalen Reynolds (19). In a first half dominated offensively initially by Reynolds (10 points in 14 minutes) and Zan Mark Sisko (10 in 9), Bayern went into the break on a 15-4 run. The decisive push was a 14-2 run within four minutes which took them from 66-61 to 80-63 (34th). The guests hit 59 percent from the field and dished out 24 assists.     

In addition to the injured Nihad Djedovic (knee), Leon Radosevic (ankle) and James Gist (muscular problems), Vladimir Lucic and Diego Flaccadori were also absent. The fourth-placed team in the EuroLeague continues in the top flight on Friday at Spanish representative Baskonia Vítoria-Gasteiz. And already on Sunday, the Audi Dome will host Oldenburg, who recently beat Alba Berlin on Tuesday night (84-76). Oldenburg (34-10) remains in fourth behind Bayern and Berlin.

Points per quarter Bayern - Braunschweig:  18-12, 25-20, 21-26, 30-21

Stats: Two-point shooting: 64% (FCBB) // 54% (Braunschweig); Three-point shooting: 47% // 45%; Free-throw shooting: 72% // 81%; Rebounds: 26 // 27; Assists: 24 // 17; Turnovers: 8 // 14

Quotes:
Andrea Trinchieri: "Congratulations to Braunschweig, they play basketball with energy and have had a very solid season so far. We are like a rock band in the 80s, we are touring Germany and Europe: this is the fifth game in nine or ten days, three of them away and now another one is coming soon. So it was important to show good effort together and I think it was good enough to control the game. We didn't show that for the complete 40 minutes, but that would also be hard to ask that from my players. We had a solid night against a good team. Our rotations at the big positions were short, but we managed that well." 

Jalen Reynolds: "We last played 48 hours ago, so it's always tough to go right ahead and prepare yourself for the opponent on such short notice. (...) It was a good test against Baskonia, we have to focus now on this next game. We played patiently today and waited to get the ball in the right places."

Paul Zipser: "We had good phases today where we were focused and also some where we weren't. That's why we let Braunschweig into the game every now and then. It wasn't because we were tired, we're used to this rhythm."

Game recap:
Trinchieri started with Wade Baldwin, Nick Weiler-Babb, Paul Zipser, David Kramer and Jalen Reynolds. Both teams took it rather leisurely at the start and the score was 4-4 after four minutes. Bayern looked for one-on-one situations, but the Lions kept up (7-7/6th). FCBB pressed front and back and the reward was a 9-0 run and the lead was 18-12 after the first quarter.

The hosts fought back and the favorites had a tough job maintaining the lead (20-16/12th) but the Munich team had the matter safely under control before Braunschweig made several three-pointers to equalize the score 28-28 (16th). Sisko took the initiative and quickly contributed five points and an assist (35-30/17th). But that was just the start of a fantastic 15-2 run that comfortably translated into a double-digit lead at halftime - 43-32.

Braunschweig's Gavin Schilling (19 points) put on a show but Munich countered effortlessly and maintained the double-digit lead (5-:42/24th). The Lions came back with three-pointers (54-47/26th) but Johnson - who ended up with ten buckets in 15 attempts - continued his good performance from Vechta and took the lead up to 58-49. Braunschweig, who still have vague hopes of making the playoffs, fought passionately and stayed within striking distance - 64-58 after the third quarter.

The Lions refused to be shaken off (66-61/32nd). But three three-pointers in a row by Bayern within one minute were a strong statement - a following Zipser dunk from the fastbreak was the icing on the cake (77-63/34th). Top scorer Johnson made it 80-63, and Trinchieri immediately called a timeout to banish any sluggishness that might have set in in the face of a victory he thought was secure. Reynolds proved his extra class under the basket (84-70/36th) with a monster block which will surely make the top 10 plays of the week. His great game and solid performance ensured another Bayern victory. 

Photo credit: Stickel