ALBA overcame major injury absences and used an impressive defensive performance to rally from 16 points down to knock off Zalgiris Kaunas 64-62 and snap a six-game losing streak.
ALBA overcame absences to snap losing skid with defense
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ALBA Berlin saw Zalgiris race away to a 4-20 lead after nearly 7 minutes but then turned up the defense and kept it on high the rest of the game, forcing Zalgiris into a EuroLeague season-high-tying 23 turnovers.
“It would be unfair to single out one player. Zalgiris doesn’t commit turnovers, just 12.1 per game. This is effort, this is team effort. This is just keep going, press here, press there. Run there,” said ALBA head coach Israel Gonzalez. “Today we started blocked, standing still, afraid. I am happy we broke away from this feeling and we could get back to the spirit that this team has.”
ALBA came into the game still saddled with injury absences, missing Sterling Brown, Louis Olinde and Matt Thomas, the team’s second, third and fifth-leading scorers. Gonzalez only suited 11 players for the game, including Gabriele Procida, who is dealing with a broken finger and was originally listed as unavailable.
“This feels really good because we put the work in and we’re trying to win every game. The situation we have is tough. To see everybody fight and play with confidence and keep pushing despite the six-game losing streak I’m really proud of the guys,” said Johannes Thiemann, who paced ALBA with 16 points “I’m sure it wasn’t the prettiest game to watch but it was a fight.”
ALBA giving up just 62 points is a major testament to the effort and bounce-back ability of the team after it had given up an average of 96.7 points in the last three losses, including 102 to Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv last week.
Jonas Mattisseck nailed the game-winning three-pointer with 6.7 seconds left to give ALBA its only lead of the game and a 2-10 record in the league.
“This was very, very important - also that we turned the game around after their first quarter when they scored every three. We didn’t give up and we fought together, and it is a well-deserved win against a very good team,” said Mattisseck.