By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Nikola Mirotic scored a season-high 28 points as Barcelona beat Zalgiris Kaunas 93 – 74 to register its fifth straight win in EuroLeague. The Blaugrana improved to 18-8 and remain in pursuit of the first place in the standings while Zalgiris dropped to 13-13 and lost further ground in the battle for a playoff spot.
Mirotic, who finished with 6-7 2-pointers, 3-6 threes and didn’t miss any of his seven free-attempts, had 23 of his points eight minutes into the second half while Barcelona led 74 – 48. Zalgiris was overpowered 25 – 8 over a six-minute stretch after the break and fell way behind to become competitive in the rest of the match.
The Lithuanian side just managed to cut its deficit to 14, 84 – 70, with four minutes remaining but couldn’t get any closer.
“We are happy how we approached the game, especially defensively,” Mirotic said. “I think first half we were amazing defensively. Also in the second half I think we were better offensively, and it was an important win. ”
Ignas Brazdeikis (18 points) and Lukas Lekavicius (15 points) stood out from Zalgiris that had serious problems creating shots (11 assists for 14 turnovers, 2-9 from the perimeter).
“Today, we have to say that Barcelona was stronger than us,” Zalgiris coach Kazys Maksvytis said. “I cannot say that we had some terrible game, it was just that Barcelona was perfect today. They deserve this win. We are still in the race for the playoffs, and we will look for this.”
Apart from Mirotic, Tomas Satoransky posted 12 points plus five assists while Sertac Sanli scored 10 for Barca.
Saras happy with the effort
Barcelona coach Sarunas Jasikevicius commented his players for their output on both ends on the court and their defensive intensity especially in the second half.
“I think it was a very solid, a very complete performance by us,” Saras mentioned. “We read their defense very well, whether it was an aggressive one, whether it was switching stuff. When guards play aggressive like this, everything is easier. We found the way to get inside the paint, read some situations. In general, defensively also, we did the things we spoke about at halftime. It was a very solid performance. I think we are in good shape. I think there is no question we are also improving, and this is the way. This is what we have to continue.”
Satoransky echoed his coach: “I think we played solid basketball at that moment [in the third quarter]. We’ve been sharing the ball very well during the whole game, but I think we came up with hustle plays, some steals, that permitted us to run the fastbreak. But like I said, the best thing was we were passing the ball and finding the open shots and advantages.”