Lukas Lekavicius, Tomas Dimsa and Laurynas Birutis combined for 35 much-needed points as Zalgiris snapped a losing streak.
Bench trio made the difference for Zalgiris
Article
3 Mins read
Zalgiris Kaunas needed a win in a big way, but despite 15,415 fans backing them from well before tipoff, the nerves were evident. Zalgiris fell behind 2-7 before righting the ship but still had a hard time buying a free throw.
What ended up making the difference in an oh-so-close 74-73 victory after a back-and-forth battle with FC Bayern Munich, however, was the Zalgiris bench.
"I think it was a typical double-week second game. Both teams had less energy," head coach Kazys Maksvytis would say afterwards. "We tried to play with more fresh players who played less in this week's first game, and it worked for us."
And so it did. Zalgiris got 58.1% of its points off the bench, by far it's highest rate this season, to win a game of swings.
The bench brigade quickly lifted Zalgiris from a two-point lead to a 29-18 advantage in the second quarter as Lukas Lekavicius, Tomas Dimsa and Laurynas Birutis combined for 10 points. And after Bayern rallied to lead 46-55 halfway through the third quarter, the same trio scored 11 points in a 13-4 run that tied it 59-59 and set up a close finish. They were also the only Zalgiris players to score early in the fourth as the home team went ahead 70-65.
Both teams wearied soon, though, and after Nick Weiler-Babb tied it from downtown at 70-70 with 6:14 top play, just 7 points fell the rest of the way between both teams.
Given all that, 14 points by Dimsa, 11 by Lekavicius and 10 by Birutis were like gold dust for a team that had lost four in a row and needed victory like water. Birutis added 9 rebounds and had a 17 PIR, more or less holding his own against Bayern veteran Serge Ibaka, who finished with a 22 PIR based on 20 points and 7 boards. It was just enough to get Zalgiris over the hump and back into the win column.
""It was tough. He's got so much experience. He's so strong," Birutis said of Ibaka. "But, like I said, we showed our faith like we did last season. We didn't stop fighting until the end."
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