By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
On paper, Barcelona was the favorite, but nobody can underestimate Zalgiris, especially in Kaunas. And when it was all said and done, the Lithuanians opened up the EuroLeague season with a big 74-67 win.
It was an ugly game, but there is no ugly win, and Zalgiris at least got an offensive boost from Sylvain Fransisco (19 p.) and Iggy Brazdeikis (17 p.) which proved enough.
On the other side, Barcelona shot 25% in threes (5/20), and that proved their main downfall.
Nicolas Laprovittola with 12 points and the duo of Jabari Parker and Kevin Punter with just 11 points each were their top scorers.
A tale of two halves
Feeding from the energy of the home crowd, Zalgiris led by 11 (25-14) with the first two buckets of the second period and closed the first half up by 12 (43-31) while Barcelona was shooting 33% from the floor.
Ignas Brazdeikis with 10 points on 5/7 FG and a buzzer-beater to end the half set the tone and the rest of Zalgiris followed.
However, things changed in the third period. Barcelona locked down Zalgiris and with a 17-5 run tied the score at 48. The quarter ended with Edgaras Ulanovas giving Zalgiris the lead back (50-48) and two minutes of a dogfight with no score from either side.
With Brazdeikis scoring again for the first time after the first half and Matthew Mitchell adding a bucket, Zalgiris built a six-point cushion (54-48) to start the fourth. The game turned into a close affair with Parker taking charge and closing in to three points (57-54).
Fransisco answered with a three, a steal, and a layup in transition (62-54) with four minutes left and Barcelona tried but couldn’t get closer than four points until the end.
“We won without shining, it’s early to shine”
Head coach of Zalgiris, Andrea Trinchieri, shared his remarks at the postgame press conference:
“An opening game for our new team, it was a very sweet night, a very energetic game. We didn’t play a perfect game, but we had tons of energy and played very good defense. We dived on the floor, missed open shots, but kept playing. Offensive rebounds gave us a great push of confidence, and it’s a good win against a team with Punter, Laprovittola, Jan Vesely, and Jabari Parker—players with great talent. It’s just the beginning; we won without shining. It’s early to shine, but we had a very, very solid start,” said Andrea Trinchieri.
Photo credit: EuroLeague