Bayern Munich denies Madrid chance to clinch playoffs

Bayern Munich denied Real Madrid a chance to clinch a playoff berth and improved its own playoff chances with an exciting 85-83 victory Thursday at Audi Dome. Nihad Djedovic scored 21 and Malcolm Delaney recorded 20 points and 6 assists to pace the winners, who improved to 5-5 in Top 16 Group F and ensured themselves at least a share of fourth place at the end of the week. Madrid, which would have clinched a playoff berth with a victory, dropped to 8-2 and second place in the group. Los Blancos can reach the playoffs as soon as next week with a win. The game seemed to be in Madrid’s hands when a 15-2 second-quarter run gave the visitors a 34-42 halftime lead. However Munich never quit and behind Malcolm rallied back twice. The game was still tied, 79-79, with 71 seconds to go, but Yassin Idbihi scored a crucial tip in and Delanay and Bryce Taylor made big free throws to help ice the win. Robin Benzing added 14 points for Munich. Sergio Rodriguez paced Madrid with 18 points, Ioannis Bourousis added 13, Rudy Fernandez scored 12 before leaving with an injury and Nikola Mirotic netted 11.

First quarter: Munich answers Madrid’s run

Bayern coach Svetislav Pesic made one change to his starting lineup with Boris Savovic replacing Deon Thompson alongside Delaney, Djedovic, Benzing and John Bryant. Madrid coach Pablo Laso kept his same first five with Sergio Llull, Tremmell Darden, Fernandez, Mirotic and Bourousis. Savovic scored the first basket for the hosts on a dunk. Bourousis got the guests on the board with a fastbreak layup after a steal by Fernandez. Delaney made it 5-2 on a three from the right wing, but the Munich offense stalled for a couple minutes, which no team can afford against Madrid. Real went on an 0-10 run with Bourousis converting a three-point play, Fernandez nailing a triple from the right wing and Mirotic putting back a miss for a 5-12 Madrid lead. Djedovic and Delaney both before Bryce Taylor’s free throws finished off a 10-2 Munich run for a 15-14 advantage. Fernandez hit a tough layup over Bryant to give the lead to the visitors, but Djedovic knocked down a jumper and Delaney drained a three from the right wing for a 20-17 Munich lead. Fernandez trimmed it back to 20-19 by putting back his own miss just before the end of the first quarter.

Second quarter: Los Blancos pull away with 15-2 run

Thompson started the second quarter with a little hook shot and was answered by a Felipe Reyes put-back. Baskets by Steffen Hamann and Thompson gave Bayern its biggest lead at 26-21. Fernandez came right back down and drove to the lane for a three-point play and Rodriguez nailed a triple from the right side to trim the gap to 28-27, after which Munich coach Pesic immediately called a timeout. Thompson pushed the lead back out to 3 points, but Madrid was back up 30-31 after 2 free throws each by Reyes and Rodriguez. Mirotic added a triple before Taylor finally snapped Bayern’s three-minute scoring drought to make it 32-34. But Madrid had tasted blood and went for the kill with Rodriguez sandwiching three-pointers around a Salah Mejri dunk for a 32-42 lead, finishing off a 2-15 run. Djedovic gave Bayern a reason for optimism just before the break with a jumper to send the teams into locker rooms with Los Blancos up 34-42.

Third quarter: Bayern takes lead after a 10-point deficit

Benzing opened the second half with a jumper over Marcus Slaughter while Bourousis scored two baskets to re-establish a double-digit lead, 36-46. Yassin Idbihi came on and scored twice in the paint and Benzing nailed a three from the right corner to bring Bayern back to within 43-47, resulting in a Madrid timeout. Benzing made 2 more free throws and a three by Djedovic put Bayern ahead 48-47. Fernandez set up Slaughter for an alley-oop to push Madrid back ahead only to see Djedovic knock down another three from the left side for a 51-49 lead. Things got a bit testy and Mirotic and Taylor were both hit with a technical. After a later foul, Mirotic split free throws, but Rodriguez knocked down another triple to give Real a 51-53 lead. Darden missed free throws that could have extended the advantage, but Djedovic came down at the other end for a jumper to even the game at 55-55. Fernandez made free throws and Darden saw his three-pointer fall to give Madrid a 55-60 advantage. Thompson made it 56-60 after three quarters with a free throw.

Fourth quarter: Delaney leads Bayern to win

Llull started the quarter with a triple from the right corner. Bryant got Bayern going with a put-back, but Llull was given space to nail another three-ball from the same spot for a 58-66 Madrid cushion. The gap was down to 63-66 after a Bryant jumper and Benzing triple. Delaney answered Reyes’s 2 free throws with a jumper to make it 65-68. Fernandez had to be helped off the court just inside the five minute mark after crashing into Bryant on a drive to the basket, which resulted in an unsportsmanlike foul on Bryant and Mirotic free throws for a 65-70 lead. It was 67-72 after a Bourousis put-back, but Delaney converted free throws and then threw down a dunk on a fast break to bring Munich within 71-72 with three minutes to play. After Bourousis free throws, Djedovic hit a triple from the right corner and Taylor followed with a three-pointer from the left corner for a 77-74 lead with two minutes left. Djedovic swiped the ball from Llull and hit a layup for a 79-74 advantage. Mirotic got to the line, made the first free throw and Reyes grabbed the miss and put it back before Rodriguez stole the ball from Delaney and fed Darden for a layup to tie the game at 79-79 with 71 seconds remaining. After both teams failed to convert, Idbihi tipped in a missed Delaney three to give Bayern an 81-79 lead. Darden turned the ball over and then Delaney made free throws with 11.1 seconds left for a 4-point lead. Rodriguez raced down and nailed a long three to cut it to 83-82 with 6.7 seconds to play. Taylor was fouled with 3.5 seconds and made both for an 85-82 lead. Munich sent Rodriguez to the line with 2.2 seconds left and the playmaker made the first and missed the second on purpose, but Madrid could not get up an attempt to win.