FC Bayern Munich came back from the dead and surprised Real Madrid with an 88-97 road victory as Ognjen Jaramaz and Deshaun Thomas helped the team rally from 20 points down to build confidence for the up-coming playoffs.
Jaramaz, Thomas brought Bayern back in confidence-builder
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Bayern went into the game knowing that it was locked into a quarterfinals showdown with FC Barcelona, and in the first half, it had watched Real light it up from long range. That didn't stop Jaramaz and Thomas from stepping up.
In the first 25 minutes of the game, the duo had combined for just 5 points as Bayern fell behind by 61-46. Jaramaz picked up 8 points over the rest of the third quarter and Thomas added 2, but the visitors still trailed 75-59 after 30 minutes.
Thomas scored 4 points in Bayern's 0-9 run to start the final quarter before hitting a three-pointer in helping get the deficit down to 80-78. The duo finished off the comeback with back-to-back three-pointers to take a 82-84 lead. Then, each added another basket as the advantage grew to 82-88. Jaramaz picked up 3 more free throws and finished the game with a team-high 19 points while Thomas ended with 16 points.
“You never know what you can do until you do it.”
"This is a great way to finish the regular season. Every game is important for us. We wanted to show that we are ready for the playoffs," Jaramaz said.
Thomas added: "It's one of those games that we don't give up. We fought. Guys stepped up big; everybody did. That's going to lead to Barca, knowing that we are going to go out there and fight and compete."
Bayern head coach Andrea Trinchieri was happy for the confidence boost his team got through the win.
"This game doesn't give us anything for the standings, but it gives us a great push in self-confidence because you never know what you can do until you do it," he said. "Now we've done it against a great team."