By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Real Madrid survived a thriller game against Zalgiris Kaunas and prevailed with 96-91. The Spanish team improved to 8-3 in the standings, while the visitors fell to 4-7.
Led by 17-year-old Slovenian guard Luka Doncic’s 17 points and 4 assists, the “Whites” pulled off an important home win, showing character against a tough opponent like Zalgiris.
Without Sergio Llull, Real Madrid struggled a lot. The Lithuanian team grabbed a 4-point lead early in the game, 15-19. Led by Kevin Pangos, Sarunas Jasikevicius’ team was dominant until the 8th minute mark though the hosts surpassed and were up 25-22 after 10 minutes.
The visitors ran a partial 8-3 score in the beginning of the second period, getting a short lead again (28-30, 13′), which was later expanded to 7 points. Soon enough, the host reacted, as Jonas Maciulis and Andres Nocioni drilled a 3-pointer each to make it a 1-point game (39-40). Still, Zalgiris showed remarkable composure, not letting the hosts get a grip of the game. At haltime, the score was even at 49 points.
After the break, Real put pressure in both ends of the court, then the game turned into a 3-pointer contest! The hosts kept the upper hand for most of the period, keeping a 5-point lead after 30 minutes, 74-69.
Entering the final period of the game, Pablo Laso’s team managed to grab a double digit lead. Still, their rivals weren’t willing to give up just yet. With another 8-0 run, Zalgiris got the lead again which was perfectly enhanced by a long shot by Lukas Lekavicius (81-83). However, Luka Doncic, a… Llull in disguise saved the day for the hosts with 2 back to back threes, with less than a minute left in the game!