By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Five players scored in double figures for Barcelona as the team defeated Zalgiris Kaunas 96 – 73 to reach 10 wins into the EuroLeague regular season and tie archrival Real Madrid at the top of the standings.
Rokas Jokubaitis produced 15 points and seven assists for Barcelona in his first game against his former team. Pierre Oriola finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Nigel Hayes-Davis scored 12, Nikola Mirotic had 11 points while Kyle Kuric finished with 10 points for the Blaugrana. Their squad led from near start to finish and got an easy victory despite the absences of Nick Calathes (injury), Cory Higgins (injury) and Brandon Davies (with the Ugandan national team).
“The match was really tough,” Oriola said. “We played without Cory [Higgins], Calathes, Davies, Abrines, we had a lot of young players, but everybody put 100 percent on the court. Everybody played as hard as they could, the way we wanted to play. So, congratulations to the team, we need to keep pushing this way. I always try to help the team, push the team, and that’s it.”
Tal Webster (13 points) and Marek Blazevic (10 points) were the top scorers of Zalgiris. The Lithuanian team began the game up 5 – 11 but fell behind quickly and was overwhelmed by Barcelona that closed halftime ahead 52 – 38. The hosts controlled the remainder of the game through their fluid offense (27 assists) and solid shooting (14-26 triples) and reached even a 27-point lead in the final minutes.
Barca coach Sarunas Jasikevicius gave minutes to 18-year-old guard Michael Caicedo (three points) and 17-year-old guard Rafa Villar who made his EuroLeague debut with three points.
“Honestly, we saw today how to play basketball, and why Barcelona is first and we are the last. It’s very simple,” Zalgiris coach Jure Zdovc commented. His team lost its first game after two straight wins to drop to 2-10.
A special game vs. a former team
Jokubaitis wasn’t the only former Zalgiris guy on the court since Sarunas Jasikevicius coached the Lithuanian club before he took over Barca.
“We had to fix our defense because on offense we were playing pretty good,” Jasikevicius said. “Without the defense, we could not go further and finish the game earlier. We could have done better, I think, but [looking] at the final result, we did great. It was difficult to keep maximum concentration because it was my first club, I spent a lot of years there, and I feel respect for them and the club. I feel honored to play against them. We got the win, but you know, the feeling of playing against my former team was amazing.”