It imposed its rhythm, it was celebrated comfortable victory with 95-74 on her Valencia and continues to hope for entry into the playoffs Zalgiris!
The Lithuanians wanted the victory at all costs to keep their hopes alive and finally got it, performing very well on both sides of the floor and having for their “weapons” the very good percentages of two-pointers (21/30) and three-pointers (14/29). Thus, they improved their record to 17-15 and wait to see if they will be in the top eight at the conclusion of the 32nd game. In the last two matches, they will face Maccabi (home) and Bayern (away).
On the other hand, Valencia lost for the 7th time in their last 8 Euroleague games, leaving them mathematically out of contention for a place in the playoffs.
Top for the winners are Lekavicius (16p.), Brazdeikis (15 p.), Taylor (12p.) and Loukosiunas (12 p.), while for the guests they stood out Web (18p, 6 reb.) and Rivero (17 points, 6 rebounds).
The match
With the help of their crowd which once again created a fantastic atmosphere in the ‘Zalgirio Arena’, the home team led 9-6 in the 3rd minute when Schmitz hit the first three-pointer of the match, before Taylor and Ulanova put the Lithuanians ahead 14-8. THE Rivero made it 14-11 with a 3-pointer of his own, with Zalgiris holding on to a narrow lead (21-16) at the end of the first quarter.
The second period began with Valencia improving her defense and going on a 9-2 run, taking her first lead of the match (23-25). Then the two teams went hand in hand in the score, while the Zalgiris found an unexpected… protagonist Loukosiunas, who hit three three-pointers in the second quarter. The hosts closed the first half with a 15-3 run, thanks to which they went to the locker room with a “safety margin” (52-40).
Armed with their good defense, Zalgiris took their biggest lead of the game, 61-45 on a two-pointer by Butkevicius, while she continued to consistently find solutions to her offense. With… in front of him Brazdeikis that gave a lot of energy on both sides of the floor, Zalgiris led by +16 (68-52), while the buzzer-beater three-pointers of Butkevicius and Taylor formed the 74-55 of the third period.
With a short 6-0 run, Valencia reduced it to 77-61, but the Zalgiris shot the difference in her favor again to 20 points (81-61). The visitors failed to find much of a counter-attack to get them back into contention for the match and the home side celebrated a comfortable win with 95-74.
The quarters: 21-16, 52-40, 74-55, 95-74
The match statistics
Source: Sport Fm
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