By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Lukas Lekavicius scored 12 out of his season-high 20 points in the last five minutes to lead Zalgiris Kaunas past Bayern Munich 83 – 80 on the road in a win that granted his team the last available spot in the 2022-23 EuroLeague playoffs. While Zalgiris finished seventh in the standings with this result and will face Barcelona in the quarterfinals, Baskonia was eliminated.
With Bayern up 63 – 62 and 5:10 to play, Lekavicius dropped seven points to put Zalgiris up 65 – 69 and then drained the triple that gave his team a 68 – 78 advantage. Fans of the Lithuanian side started celebrating in the standings but it wasn’t over for Bayern as Andreas Obst scored eight unanswered points to make it 78 – 79 with 28 seconds remaining.
Lekavicius hit a pair of free throws, Corey Walden did the same for Bayern and Edgaras Ulanovas added 2-2 of his own. There were eight seconds left for Bayern to tie the game but Cassius Winston made a hasty attempt from afar as the match ended with Zalgiris punching a postseason ticket for the first time after 2019.
“It was a very difficult game,” Lekavicius said. “We stepped up defensively in the second half. We had to step up. I want to thank the amazing fans. They gave us a boost for sure We felt that. Big thanks to them.”
Corey Walden (14 points), Obst (12 points) and Vladimir Lucic (10 points) scored in double figures for the already-eliminated Bayern that completes the regular season at 11-23 and in the 15th place. Andrea Trinchieri’s team was without injured Othello Hunter, DJ Seeley, Elias Harris and Augustine Rubit.
Fight until the end
“This is crazy, I don’t have words,” Smits said. “Thanks to the fans who came. It was like playing in Kaunas today. The series vs. Barcelona will be very tough for sure but we will be prepared and ready to face them.”
Apart from Lekavicius, Rolands Smits dropped 16 points and Ulanovas posted 12 points for Zalgiris. Arnas Butkevicius contributed nine rebounds and six assists to go with his four points.
“We had a 10-point lead. I don’t know how we survived this terrible ending in the game. Thank God, thank our free throws that we won this game,” Zalgiris coach Kazys Maksvytis said. “This game gives us experience. It was like a playoff game. We face Barcelona? Great team and a great coach. Much easier for us because we are underdogs.”