Obst and his Bayern clinch victory no. 1

The magic of the Olympic Park is back: Bayern's basketball team celebrated their first win of the young season in their EuroLeague home opener, with the German champions defeating Red Star Belgrade 97:88 (50:55) after a strong second half.

11,500 fans in the sold-out SAP Garden saw an exciting offensive battle and a winner whose balance was impressive despite the 31 points scored by top scorer Andi Obst.  Oscar da Silva (12, 6/6 from the field), Isiaha Mike (11) and Vlado Lucic (10) also scored in double figures, with FCBB stealing the ball from the Serbs nine times.

Bayern will be back in action on Sunday (6 p.m., BMW Park) against BBL rivals Hamburg, before facing Zalgiris Kaunas in their third EuroLeague game (Friday, SAP Garden).

Nine three-pointers and 31 points from Obst

Head coach Gordon Herbert once again rested European champion Hollatz alongside Voigtmann, Harris, and Jokubaitis, who are undergoing rehabilitation. His teammates struggled early on to adjust to the visitors' physicality and speed in transition (9:18/6.).

Full Boxscore 

World champions Obst and Giffey put Bayern ahead 20-19 amid the first wave of cheers, but Belgrade countered to make it 20:25 – from then on, it was an open exchange of blows. The Serbs maintained a 41:33 lead (14th minute) with a strong three-point percentage, while Munich's overly passive defense was a cause for concern. Da Silva, who was particularly alert, kept FCBB in contention at the break.

The world champions bring Bayern back

Bayern now played with intensity in defense, but they were still lacking a little luck under their own basket. They then made up for that at the other end, taking a 77:68 lead thanks to a few steals and Mike and Obst from outside (28th minute) – Red Star was faltering.

It didn't fall, not yet, but after two defensive plays and Jovic's tricks (7 assists), the score was 86:72 (33rd minute). Obst sealed the deal with his three-pointers, seven to nine, to make it 95:83 (37th minute). It was still a little early, but Obst was already grinning like a winner. And rightly so.

Ouotes:

Gordon Herbert, Headcoach FC Bayern Basketball: “First of all, a big thank you to the fans. The atmosphere was fantastic and they helped us get into the game. With their support, we came back and had a great second half. We sorted things out during the break and the guys did a tremendous job. We held them to 33 points in the second half and Andi Obst opened up the game for us. He made some really big shots in the first half, when we could have been ten or twelve points behind. He made some big shots and gave us momentum. (...) David (McCormack) came in in the second half and gave us some great minutes. Oscar da Silva didn't play much for Panathinaikos, but he also delivered some huge minutes. It was a really good team performance. (...) The German national players had a kind of hangover from exhaustion because they had so much pressure, pressure, pressure – and then it was over. I'm happy for Andi and Oscar, who struggled in Athens – but both showed mental toughness today."

Andi Obst: "We improved defensively in the second half. 55 points at halftime was too much. It's easy to play good offense when you play good defense – defense is the key for us. (...) I let the game come to me and I'm ready to shoot at any time. I like taking those shots, and my teammates trust me. It's a team effort. (...) It's always good to start with a home win. It's always tough away at Panathinaikos. It's going to be a long season in a difficult competition." 

Oscar da Silva: "We learned a lot. I don't think we were satisfied with our defensive performance in the first half, but we were able to increase the intensity in the second half. (...) We worked on small details and were able to generate a lot of energy in defense in the second half. (...) It's extremely important that we won the second game of the season. And especially here in front of our home fans. It's a good start and hopefully we can continue like this."