By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
FC Bayern Munich used a strong offensive effort in the third period to rout FC Barcelona with a 90-77 victory at home in Round 17 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague to conclude the year with a triumph.
After going through ups and downs during the past few weeks, the German side was on top of its game against troubled Barca, which slipped its third straight game to fall to an 11-6 record.
“We don’t want to go too far with our thoughts. But I believe it’s a great way to finish the year. A very difficult year for many different reasons. I wish everybody – players, referees, coaches, managers, fans – a healthy 2021. The only wish I have is to see fans back in the arena: 500, 5,000, 10,000. I just want to feel some vibes and some emotions”, was Andrea Trinchieri’s wish for the new year after the game.
Wade Baldwin finished the year strong with a new EuroLeague career-high performance of 29 points, 7 assists and 2 steals to lead the hosts with a total PIR of 41. “We knew we would have a tough battle after coming off a super, super tough loss against Zalgiris, who is an incredible team. We knew this was a game we had to go and get. Barcelona is the best of the best and we had to bring our best of the best. Our defensive scheme: we did a good job switching everything, fighting the bigs, all the guards trying to stay in front of the guards. On offense, we wanted to run. We knew that they could get tired. We’re young, we’re hungry and we continued this trend. We’re in a good situation“, he commented after the game.
Trinchieri’s squad put up a collective effort, with Paul Zipser adding 16 points, Nick Weiler-Babb had 14 points and Jalen Reynolds posted 12 points and 8 boards.
Sarunas Jasikevicius’ squad lacked Nikola Mirotic who was ruled out due to personal reasons a few hours prior to the game. Alex Abrines led the Spanish side with 16 points, Cory Higgins posted 12, while Adam Hanga, Rolands Smits and Artem Pustovyi all posted 10 points.
With this victory, Bayern matched Barca’s record to get ahold of the third position of the EuroLeague standings at the midpoint of the regular season.
Photo: EuroLeague