By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
The German “derby” proved to be a euphemism as Bayern Munich got an easy 82-65 win over ALBA Berlin on the road and proved beyond any doubt that they are on a different level as a team.
Croatian big man Danko Brankovic with 14 points had a career high and Sylvain Fransisco also added 14 for the winning side.
Carsen Edwards scored 13 and Serge Ibaka contributed 11 points as part of the team effort against a weak opponent which dropped to a 4-18 record.
“It’s a huge win cause we are back on our winning streak, we played good, we played together”, said Brankovic referring to the fact that Bayern was coming from four defeats.
On the contrary, thanks to this win Bayern has a 9-13 record, being tied with Crvena Zvezda and Anadolu Efes between the 13th position, two wins away from the playins line.
ALBA got 15 points from Matteo Spagnolo and 13 from Yanni Wetzell being competitive only in the first quarter which ended tied at 19.
Sharing the ball and defense
The game was practically decided in the second quarter which ended with a partial 24-11 score for the guests who led by 13 at halftime (43-30) and never looked back.
“We just needed to share the ball and play defense”, said Fransisco explaining what had changed. “We protected the paint, made them shoot tough shots, usually they shoot pretty well, but not tonight”.
After a three by Matt Thomas, ALBA made it a five-point game (54-49) with four minutes left in the third but didn’t get closer after that. On the contrary, a three by Andreas Obst started the fourth period making the score 69-51 in favor of Bayern.
“We shut down their three-point attempts, we were able to defend that line very well and we played solid defense, controlling the rhythm of the game and getting rewarded for the work we are doing”, added Bayern Pablo Laso who didn’t forget that these kinds of games are special.
“They are Germans, we will face them also in the domestic league, so we wish them a lot of luck but after today in a difficult year, having lost many important players”, said Laso.