Like Michael Jordan before, Nicholas Laprovittola shrugged his shoulders and trotted back into his own half to the cheers of the 7,600 enthusiastic spectators at the Palau Blaugrana. He had just sunk a difficult three-point shot from a long distance in the Munich basket, the gesture was supposed to say: Why not like that. Because the great FC Barcelona once again struggled against a passionately fighting FC Bayern, was 31:37 behind at the break, but managed to turn the game around thanks to Laprovittola, who was the best scorer with 26 points.
The Munich side, however, left with their heads held high, they had surprisingly forced the title favorites into the crucial fifth game of the best-of-five series in the quarterfinals of the Euroleague, in which Barcelona used the home advantage, played an outstanding second half, the game with 81: 72 and will travel to Belgrade for the Final Four on May 19th.
Rarely has this selection of the highly talented been under such pressure as in this showdown, but Barca have the right players for such situations. Players like Nick Calathes, the best passer in Euroleague history, who contributed ten points, or center Brandon Davies, the athletic guard Dante Exum, signed in December with a view to such comparisons. And of course Nikola Mirotic, the highest paid and arguably the best professional in Europe. A guy like him always has to deliver – and Mirotic delivered when it mattered. The 31-year-old was there in the important moments, collected 20 points and initiated the turnaround.
Bayern lead 37:31 at the break, then Barcelona comes out of the dressing room with grim determination
Because the 52:59 defeat on Friday in game four in Munich had left its mark, the Munich team went into this quarter-final as a clear outsider, but had already shown with the 90:75 triumph in the second game in the same place that with them is to be expected. Even the strong early phase of the hosts, who quickly drew away to 9:4, was countered by the Munich team with a 9:0 run. From then on it was always the guests who submitted, who always had an answer. Ognjen Jaramaz in particular brought a lot of momentum from the bench and was the decisive Munich thrower in the first half with ten points, collecting a total of 17 points. On the defensive, the defense was again biting and tiresome, the opponent was not granted a simple throw. The guests deservedly marched into the dressing room with a 37:31 lead.
It is idle to speculate whether this passionate energy performance has cost too much power reserves, or whether the Lithuanian Barca coach Sarunas Jasikevicius, who was once again incessantly yelling and yelling on the sidelines, had found the right words: In any case, the favorite came back on the floor grimly determined – and suddenly the throws fell. The third quarter went to the favorites with 29:15 points, who led 60:52 before the final round – the game was turned. Although the Bavarians never let themselves be shaken off in the final round, they fought tirelessly and closed the gap again to 65:72, but the momentum had long been on the Catalans’ side. Above all, veteran Othello Hunter, who is the only one in the FCB squad to have won the title before, did not want to accept the end, the 36-year-old fought like a lion, was the best Munich player with 18 points – and still had to hang his shoulders trudge into the cabin.