Bayern Munich advances to EuroLeague playoffs for first time in club history

Bayern Munich made history on Thursday night and advanced to the playoffs of the EuroLeague for the first time in club history.

The Bavarians endured a late thriller at Audi Dome and edged Zalgiris Kaunas to secure their place in the postseason.

With the hosts down by one and three second remaining (69-70), Vladimir Lucic was fouled and hit a pair of free throws to seal the deal for Bayern (71-70).

Joffrey Lauvegrne couldn’t hit the game winning shot for the Lithuanians and the Bavarians will play in the EuroLeague postseason for the first time ever.

Bayern improved to 20-13 in the EuroLeague standings. On the other hand, Zalgiris dropped to 16-17 and has already been eliminated.

Shane Larkin was unstoppable after halftime and led Anadolu Efes to a big road win over Baskonia in overtime (101-111).

Larkin went for 28 points in the second half and the extra period and finished the game with 30, as the Turks escaped from Fernando Buesa Arena with a big victory.

Efes set a club scoring record and sealed the home-court advantage in the playoffs, improving to 22-11. On the contrary, Baskonia snapped a four-game winning streak and dropped to 18-15. However, they are still alive in the EuroLeague playoff race.

Panathinaikos came back from a 20-point deficit and survived a late thriller against Armani Milano in overtime (86-83).

The “Greens” were down by 20 in the second quarter (22-42), but conceded only 24 points in the second half to turn things around.

The hosts outscored the Italians 57-37 after halftime and sealed the deal, improving to 11-20. Panathinaikos, though, have already been eliminated from the EuroLeague playoffs.

On the other hand, Armani dropped to 20-13 and its road to the home-court advantage is now tougher.

In a battle between two already eliminated clubs, Crvena Zvezda rallied past Maccabi Tel-Aviv in its final home game of the EuroLeague regular season (76-64).

The Serbians played very well in the second half and outscored their opponents 43-30 to seal the deal.

Thanks to this win, Zvezda improved to 10-23, whereas Maccabi dropped to 13-18.