Bayern and Monaco force Game 5s in Euroleague playoff series

Two out of the four Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoff series will go the distance after home teams FC Bayern and AS Monaco doused the qualification hopes of FC Barcelona and Olympiacos Piraeus, respectively, with home wins on Friday.

FC Bayern Munich 59-52 FC Barcelona

Bayern put on a record-matching masterpiece to stifle Barca 59-52 and send the series back to Spain for a do-or-die Game 5 next Tuesday. Nick Weiler-Babb led the winners with 12 points, but otherwise, it was a complete ensemble effort for Bayern, especially on defense. Only Alex Abrines was able to break into double figures for Barca with 12 points. Bayern’s defense held the visitors to their joint-lowest point total in 568 EuroLeague games this century to even the series at 2-2.

AS Monaco 78-77 Olympiacos Piraeus

In a second straight thriller in the principality, Monaco refused elimination in its first-ever EuroLeague Playoffs series by outlasting Olympiacos 78-77 to force Game 5 on Wednesday in Piraeus, Greece. Dwayne Bacon’s jumper with 53 seconds left secured the win as Kostas Sloukas missed his own game-winning try for Olympiacos on the buzzer. Bacon led Monaco with 21 points while Mike James added 18 and Will Thomas 16. Donta Hall added a double-double of 14 points and ten rebounds for the winners. Olympiacos got 19 points from Sloukas and 17 from Sasha Vezenkov.