Bayern, Booker bust out to top Zenit

FC Bayern Munich moved to the top Top 16 in Group F by outgunning previously unbeaten visitor Zenit St. Petersburg 95-78 on Wednesday. Both teams are now 2-1 in the group and face each other again next week. In an amazing coindicence, Devin Booker matched career highs of 27 points and 38 performance index rating that he had set against Zenit back in 2016. He made 10 of 14 two-point shots and 7 of 7 free throws while matching his career high with 5 assists, too. Milan Macvan added 14 points, while Nihad Dedovic, Reggie Redding and Jared Cunningham had 11 each for the winners. Kyle Kuric of Zenit outscored everyone with 31 points and was followed by Sergey Karasev with 15. A 55-52 shootout at halfitme gave way to solid defense the rest of the way by Bayern, whose players dished 30 assists, best of the Top 16 so far.

Karasev drilled back-to-back triples to give Zenit a quick 2-6 advantage. Cunningham got Bayern's first from deep and soon free throws from Stefan Jovic and Booker put the hosts in front, 9-8. Kuric came off the bench for a floater and Shane Whittington scored in close for another lead change. Bayern threw long passes to Booker and Cunningham to flip it again. Booker's three-point play kept Bayern going and his finger-roll layup completed an 11-0 run at 20-12. Kuric let loose with back-to-back threes before Danilo Barthel hit his own for Bayern at 25-18. Kuric, however was unstoppable, with 4 free throws and a jumper to cut Bayern's edge to 29-26 after 10 minutes. Karasev returned with another triple and Demonte Harper outraced the defense to tie it up 31-31 early in the second. Reggie Redding fed Booker for a dunk and scored himself, while Karasev nailed his fourth from the arc at 35-36. Harper's free throws preceded a big Kuric blast as the visitors soared in front again, 35-41. Bayern went to Booker and was rewarded with a pair of three-point plays before Dedovic drilled a go-ahead triple and finished a fastbreak at 50-45. Booker kept it going with an alley-oop dunk assisted by Anton Gavel. Marko Simonovic popped from deep for another tie, but Dedovic copied him for a 55-52 halftime score.

Scoring came slower after the break, but only until Booker started collecting dunks again, with a pair around Redding's three-pointer, making it 63-57. Redding scored on another fastbreak and Macvan buried a long triple as the hosts ran away to a 71-59 lead. Kuric returned with 6 points late in the quarter, but that only got Zenit within 74-67. Bayern finished with a 6-0 run capped by Dedovic's steal and layup for an 80-67 advantage after 30 minutes. Simonovic stepped up with a three-pointer to start the fourth quarter before Booker stepped up with a fastbreak layup, a block and free throws at 84-70. With the points difference in mind, Bayern kept its foot on the gas as a triple by Braydon Hobbs and baskets by Redding and Barthel left a 95-78 scoreboard at the finish.