Madrid sinks 15 triples, holds off Bayern

Real Madrid continued its winning streak by holding off a big comeback by FC Bayern Munich, coming away with a 72-82 win at the Audi Dome. Madrid led by 18 points in the third quarter, but Bayern rallied to within 66-68 early in the fourth quarter. The visitors, however, never relinquished their lead and registered their fourth consecutive win, improving to a league second-best 12-2 record. Bayern had its three-game winning streak snapped, and now sits at 7-7 in a four-team share of sixth place. Anthony Randolph paced the winners with 22 points, while Sergio Llull had 19 points and 6 assists. Stefan Jovic had 11 points and 5 assists for Bayern, while Petteri Koponen, Nihad Dedovic and Danilo Barthel scored 10 points apiece.

Maodo Lo and Barthel each had a jumper and a three-pointer early, to give Bayern a 10-9 lead. But Llull hit back-to-back triples before Randolph made a tough short jumper followed by a triple, his second of the game, giving Madrid 13-22. Koponen snapped a 0-11 run with a three-pointer for the hosts, but Llull from long range and Gustavo Ayon inside made it 16-27 after 10 minutes. Llull hit two more three-pointers, including a high-arcing buzzer-beater, making it 20-33. Jovic scored 6 points for Bayern, but Trey Thompkins replied with two close-range baskets, before Rudy Fernandez and Facundo Campazzo hit from long range, with Campazzo’s coming at the buzzer to make it 31-46 at half-time. Jeffery Taylor’s second-chance three extended the margin to 18 points on the opening possession of the third, but Bayern started to find its offensive rhythm. Jovic had a jumper and a triple, before Dedovic strung together 8 points that helped cut the deficit to 59-65 going into the fourth quarter. The charge continued, with Koponen knocking down a pair of triples, and the hosts cutting within 66-68 with 8 minutes to go. However, Madrid held Bayern scoreless for almost 3 minutes, and Thompkins’ triple opened a 68-75 lead. Dedovic and Williams gave the hosts hope, but Fernandez’s triple in the final minute sealed the deal.

Playmaking Ayon

Gustavo Ayon got Madrid’s offense going, not by scoring but rather by dishing assists. He had 4 in the first quarter alone, and finished with a career-high 8 assists.

Offensive highs and lows

Bayern scored only 31 points in the first half, then had 28 points in the third quarter alone, which was the main reason the hosts reduced an 18-point deficit to just 2. However, they then scored just 6 points in the final 8 minutes of the game.

Three-point stats

Madrid nailed 15 triples, which tied its season-high. Madrid also attempted 34 triples in this game, also tying its season-high.

Did you notice?

Another season-high for Madrid was its 16 turnovers, but three players accounted for 13 of those. Ayon had 5, while Facundo Campazzo and Walter Tavares coughed up 4 turnovers apiece.

Next game

In Round 15, Real Madrid travels to face league-leader Fenerbahce Istanbul in a rematch of last season’s championship game, hoping to challenge Fenerbahce’s 10-game winning streak. Meanwhile, Bayern head coach Dejan Radonjic stays at home to welcome Buducnost VOLI Podgorica, the team Radonjic grew up with.