Carsen Edwards starred once again as the German side improved to 3-0 at its new home
Bayern's new Garden of Eden
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3 Mins read
Regular Season
Round 5 of 34
Group Regular Season
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Following home victories against Real Madrid and Paris Basketball, FC Bayern Munich made it three wins from three at the brand-new SAP Arena on Friday night by beating Olympiacos Piraeus 84-80.
Over 11,000 fans pushed Bayern to its third home win in as many games, with Carsen Edwards making it happen by scoring 14 of his 30 points in the final nine minutes.
The 26-year-old guard made 10 of 14 two-pointers on the night, including a go-ahead put-back layup that put Bayern ahead for good, 72-71, midway through the fourth quarter. He also put the victory on ice by hitting a pair of free throws, fixing the final score with 11.2 seconds remaining.
In fact, Edwards became just the 12th player in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague history to score 30 points or more in consecutive games, having netted 32 in Round 4 against Paris. Jaka Lakovic of Krka Novo Mesto was the first player to do so back in 2001, getting 31 against Zadar and 38 against Real Madrid.
Nikola Vujcic and Alexey Shved had back-to-back 30-point games but different seasons. Milos Vujanic, Vlado Scepanovic, Milos Teodosic, Lynn Greer, Nando De Colo, Charles Smith and Markus Howard, the only player to do it twice, complete this select group of players.
Edwards now has a chance to become the first player to score 30 or more points in three consecutive games, which would be a first in EuroLeague history. Edwards, however, praised his team's defense at the end of the game.
"I am just happy we got the win. We started off a little slow but I think just coming together and trying to get stops on defense, that's just the best part for us," Edwards told EuroLeague TV.
"I hope we can build on this but we still have a lot of things to work on. We just stayed together and tried to get stops. I think that's the end of it, whether the shots are going in or not. If our defense is consistent, we can build off that."
Devin Booker added 20 points while Nick Weiler-Babb and Shabazz Napier each had 10 for Bayern, which grabbed 11 offensive rebounds, hit 24-of-37 two-point shots (64.9%) and limited its turnovers to just 9. Weiler-Babb finished the game with 6 rebounds, 9 assists and just 1 turnover.
The game went down to the wire, too. Olympiacos trailed 82-80 and Sasha Vezenkov missed twice from downtown on consecutive trips down the floor before Edwards sealed the outcome from the foul line. When the dust settled, Booker said that the crowd, and the way Bayern fans pushed their team in the fourth quarter, was a big factor in this win.
"It feels great to pull it out in the end. We had a couple of scares there but fought until the end. I'm proud of my guys, man," he said to EuroLeague TV.
"It was tough, it is always tough to play against Olympiacos. They always have a great team, especially this year, but we are playing at home in front of our crowd, so they gave us a little bit of an advantage. We hit some tough shots and also missed some easy shots, but like I said, we fought until the end.
"We need [the crowd's support], that's when we needed it most: the fourth quarter, when everybody is tired and we are drained physically and mentally. I think they gave us an extra boost."
For the first time in 10 EuroLeague seasons, Bayern has won its opening three home games of the season. Its next home showdown comes in Round 8 against Zalgiris Kaunas, which will see former Bayern head coach Andrea Trinchieri and ex-Bayern guard Sylvain Francisco head back to the German city on November 7.
Bayern fans will certainly be hoping that SAP Garden remains the team's Garden of Eden in the coming weeks and months.