By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Zalgiris Kaunas used a 9-0 run in the last four minutes to beat Barcelona 91 – 84 and deliver one of the biggest upsets of the 2021-22 EuroLeague. There’s no other way to put it since it was a win of the bottom-placed team against the current standings leaders.
With the score tied at 72, Josh Nebo made back-to-back dunks after offensive rebounds. Edgaras Ulanovas added four straight free throws and Lukas Lekavicius added one as well to put Zalgiris up 81 – 72 with 1:26 remaining. It was a 22-7 run overall by Zalgiris after trailing 59 – 65 early in the fourth period.
“We won because of our nice uniforms to support Ukraine,” Ulanovas said, referring to the Blue and Yellow colors of Ukraine that his team donned in this match. “That’s the most important thing. I am happy, first of all, for the atmosphere the fans created. About the game, when you are in the last place, you don’t have a lot of pressure. You cannot go lower. We played, we fought. There were a lot of crucial moments, a lot of 50-50 balls we took. I cannot say it was a tactical win, but more about a fight. We proved we can fight against the best teams.”
Kyle Kuric and Nikola Mirotic scored 3-pointers as Barca approached 86 – 82 with 17 seconds to play. It was a little too late though since Lekavicius drained a pair from the free-throw line to finish at a season-high 22 points and Zalgiris held on to get a massive victory and celebrate the Lithuanian Independence Day in style.
Joffrey Lauvergne added 18 points and Ulanovas posted 14 points, nine rebounds and six steals in a major two-way performance.
Nikola Mirotic had 26 points plus nine rebounds for Barcelona while Kuric scored 15 and Rokas Jokubaitis dropped 11 points in his first return to Kaunas as an opponent. The Blaugrana had begun the game with a 0 – 9 run and led 9 – 19 early in the second period before Zalgiris put on a strong response that put them up 33 – 28 late the second period.
There were multiple changes in the lead and it was Barcelona who went ahead 54 – 63 a bit before the end of the third period. Zalgiris once again recovered and turned everything upside down though down the stretch.
“We lacked everything,” Barcelona coach Sarunas Jasikevicius said after losing to his former club. “It was not just crucial moments of the game. The whole game we were horrible, absolutely horrible. We are talking a lot that since the Spanish Cup we are in a bad dynamic. I don’t like how we play, I don’t like how we act. We have to change it. We have to become the same team that we were, but more importantly, very modest and normal people. That is usually first, then basketball second.”
In praise of the players and the fans
Zalgiris Kaunas coach Jure Zdovc gave all credit to his guys and the supporters of the Lithuanian side who made a lot of noise to push their team in their own way.
“First, congratulations to my players,” Zdovc said. “You could see why Barcelona is the best team in Europe. You cannot relax, they punished us even if we presume where they will attack. In the end, we won with good offense. We fought, we found six or seven players with good energy, and in the end we won. Thanks to the crowd, it is a big win for us. I tell my players, when all the players come back [from injuries], we will have rotations and I really feel confident with my team we have a lot of weapons. If we continue like this, we can win every game.
“I really like my team now. I trust my team. Sometimes that is not good, because you relax, but I really enjoy to coach this team. Players win the games. They have been playing really great. I felt like we needed one win on the road, like we did in Monaco, to get the pressure off the players. We caught the momentum then.”