Bayern Munich stormed the Palau Blaugrana and achieved a solid victory against Barça (75-90) with which they tied the Euroleague quarter-final tie (1-1). Weiler-Babb, Obst, Jaramaz and, above all, Desahun Thomas (25 points, with 6 of 7 three-pointers, and seven rebounds) surprised the Catalans, unsettled from the start and unable to react against their footing. Trinchieri’s scoreboard surpassed that of Jasikevicius, Exum and Davies, key in the first match, were minimized, and the production of Calathes and Laprovittola was insufficient given the firmness of the German team. The series moves to Munich next week with the pulse evenly matched and the Audi Dome will host the third and fourth games on Wednesday and Friday respectively.
Bayern charged into the second round of the tie with the same determination as in Tuesday’s match. But this time the German bet was much more consistent despite having lost Hilliard in the first match. Weiler-Babb’s hyperactivity prompted Trinchieri’s plan, Dedovic provided the first batch of points and Desahun Thomas broke the scoring with a forceful shake early in the second quarter.
Bayern put together a 2-12 run in just two and a half minutes and Barça were left shivering. Thomas ruined the Barça defense, scored 10 points (with two triples) in that section, and placed the German team with a 15 advantage (20-35, m. 13). Jasikevicius didn’t work out this time the shortlist made up of Jokubaitis, Exum and Davies and Laprovittola’s third foul made things even more complicated for the Catalans.
The Argentine point guard was Barça’s main support until he was forced to sit on the bench (10 points in eight minutes) and Calathes was unable to contain an overflowing Bayern (31-47, m. 18). Desahun Thomas closed the first half with 16 points, four rebounds and two assists, in 14 minutes on the court, and the Catalans left at intermission ruminating on their uneasiness at a scenario that forced them to rethink the entire formula (35-48, m . twenty).
“Everything has to be changed,” Jasikevicius summed up before the restart. And Barça’s first change was to give several turns of the screw to its defense. The azulgrana lowered Bayern (who only scored five points in five minutes) and with two triples by Kuric and Mirotic’s step forward, the pulse gradually tightened. Even so, Thomas continued hammering the culé rim and with his fifth triple in six attempts (22 points at that point) allowed Trinchieri’s men to withstand the local onslaught.
The revolutions rose on the parquet and the bar of the physical demand reached the highest levels of the series. The attacks languished in the face of so much concrete, but Barça fed their perimeter by bringing together Kuric and Abrines, and Calathes scored a monumental triple that reduced the deficit to six (52-58, m. 28). Two free throws by Sanli then narrowed the margin even further. But Obst emerged with two consecutive triples that reduced Alzulgrana’s momentum before entering the finish line (from 56-61, to 56-67, m. 30).
Thomas’s sixth three-pointer consolidated Bayern’s optimism (56-70) and Barça, dazzled from the three-pointer (6 of 20 at that point), began to despair. Three free throws by Kuric, a steal by Sergi Martínez and a triple by Laprovittola woke up the Palau again. But it was too late. Bayern did not react and took the victory and home court factor to Munich. It was the sixth Barça defeat in the last 10 games.
Sergio Rodríguez straightens Milan
Meanwhile, at the Mediolanum Forum, Armani Milan tied the series against Efes (73-66) with an outstanding performance by Sergio Rodríguez. The Canarian point guard had 17 points, five rebounds and five assists (a PIR of 27 in 25 minutes) and then suffered a sprained ankle that prevented him from playing the final minutes of the match. Without Melli (low for the remainder of the tie) or El Chacho, it was Shavon Shields who was responsible for sustaining the epic triumph of the Messina team, with 19 points in the second half (21 in total). At Efes, Micic also finished limping (18 points) after a battle that will continue at Sinan Erdem on Tuesday and Thursday. “The atmosphere in Istanbul is going to be double or triple what it is here,” Ataman announced to encourage the Turkish cauldron.
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