FC Barcelona boss Saras Jasikevicius had plenty of column inches dedicated to him ahead of Wednesday night's Game 1 meeting with Zalgiris Kaunas, his hometown club where he began his career as a head coach between 2016 and 2020, yet not much was said about Rokas Jokubaitis. The 22-year-old came through Zalgiris's youth academy and made his first-team debut in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague in December 2018, before opting to join Coach Jasikevicius two and a half years later.

Rokas Jokubaitis haunted Zalgiris in the fourth quarter

FC Barcelona boss Saras Jasikevicius had plenty of column inches dedicated to him ahead of Wednesday night's Game 1 meeting with Zalgiris Kaunas, his hometown club where he began his career as a head coach between 2016 and 2020, yet not much was said about Rokas Jokubaitis. The 22-year-old came through Zalgiris's youth academy and made his first-team debut in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague in December 2018, before opting to join Coach Jasikevicius two and a half years later.

 

In the fourth quarter of Barca's 91-69 Game 1 triumph, it was Jokubaitis who put his former side away. The Blaugrana entered the fourth quarter with a 13-point advantage, 66-53, with Jokubaitis having contributed 4 points, 2 rebounds and 1 steal in 11:29 during the first 30 minutes of action. Then, in the final period, he scored 8 points, grabbed 1 rebound, dished 3 assists and recorded 1 more steal to finish with totals of 12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals.

Rokas Jokubaitis scored 8 points, grabbed 1 rebound, dished 3 assists and recorded 1 steal in the fourth quarter of FC Barcelona's 91-69 victory against Zalgiris Kaunas in Game 1 of the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs.

Rokas Jokubaitis's fourth-quarter highlights vs. Zalgiris

On a night when Barca's starting guard duo of Tomas Satoransky and Nicolas Laprovittola combined for 12 points between them – 4 for the former, 8 for the latter – Jokubaitis's 12 points off the bench provided a welcome boost, even if the Blaugrana had done much of the damage before then.

 

Jokubaitis, the reigning EuroLeague Rising Star, has the trophy in his sights once again – and a strong performance in these playoffs could make it all but a formality that he retains his trophy.

Game Videos

Game News

FC Barcelona v Zalgiris Kaunas (2023-04-26T18:00:00.000Z)

Entering Wednesday night, in all of its 25 playoff games since the format was introduced in 2005, Olympiacos Piraeus had never made more than 13 three-pointers and never shot better than 52.3% from long range. But in its series-opening 79-68 win over visiting Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, the Reds bested both of those marks.

Entering Wednesday night, in all of its 25 playoff games since the format was introduced in 2005, Olympiacos Piraeus had never made more than 13 three-pointers and never shot better than 52.3% from long range. But in its series-opening 79-68 win over visiting Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, the Reds bested both of those marks.

Olympiacos shattered its previous best, knocking down 16 three-pointers on 29 attempts, good for a club playoff record 55.2%.

The Reds' 16 three-pointers were one shy of a EuroLeague playoff record, set by Anadolu Efes Istanbul in the 2019 playoffs.

The Reds knocked down 6 of 13 shots in the first two quarters and 10-of-16 in the second half.

Isaiah Canaan was the one doing most of the damage. He shot 6-for-7 for the night, including 5-for-6 in the final 7 minutes of the third quarter.

"I give credit to all my teammates for finding me", Canaan said. "They know all I got to do is see one go through and anything can happen. For them to keep looking for me after I made a couple, I give them credit."

Sasha Vezenkov was 3-for-6 in the game, Shaquielle McKissic 3-for-4, while Thomas Walkup, Kostas Sloukas, Kostas Papanikolaou and Giannoulis Larentzakis all hit one triple apiece. It was all too much for Fenerbahce to overcome.

Olympiacos set club three-point records in Game 1 win

Olympiacos Piraeus v Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul (2023-04-26T18:45:00.000Z)

Olympiacos Piraeus opened its playoff series against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul with a 79-68 win on Wednesday night. The facilitators were Sasha Vezenkov and Isaiah Canaan.

Starters got the Reds going, bench finished Fenerbahce

Olympiacos Piraeus opened its playoff series against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul with a 79-68 win on Wednesday night. After a back-and-forth first half, and the teams trading blows early in the third quarter, Olympiacos pulled away for good in the third.

The facilitators were Sasha Vezenkov and Isaiah Canaan. The former scored 9 third-quarter points, including a three-pointer, and Vezenkov also had a pair of assists to Canaan who knocked down 5 three-pointers on 6 attempts in the third quarter.

A close-range bucker from Moustapha Fall, another starter, was the only other Olympiacos basket in the quarter which Olympiacos claimed 26-16.

The Olympiacos bench combined to score just 5 points up to that point, a triple from Giannoulis Larentzakis and a basket from Tarik Black, but in the fourth, it was the bench duo of Kostas Sloukas and Shaquielle McKissic who finished the job.

After Fenerbahce closed to within 63-58, Sloukas opened the fourth with a driving layup and soon after he knocked down a triple. Then McKissic scored the final 9 points for the hosts, 3 three-pointers on as many attempts, to open a 15-point margin and ice the game.

FC Barcelona ended up coasting to a 91-69 win against Zalgiris Kaunas on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs, and one of the keys to the victory was the hosts' shooting from the free-throw line. In fact, Barca ended up breaking an 18-year EuroLeague playoff record with a perfect night from the charity stripe.

Barcelona made EuroLeague playoff history against Zalgiris

FC Barcelona ended up coasting to a 91-69 win against Zalgiris Kaunas on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs, and one of the keys to the victory was the hosts' shooting from the free-throw line. In fact, Barca ended up breaking an 18-year EuroLeague playoff record with a perfect night from the charity stripe.

Of its 91 points, 21 of those came via free throws – from 21 trips to the line. Alex Abrines went 4-for-4, Sertac Sanli was 3-for-3, and seven other players – Jan Vesely, Tomas Satoransky, Nicolas Laprovittola, Mike Tobey, Kyle Kuric, Rokas Jokubaitis and Nikola Mirotic – ended up going 2-for-2 each.

Before Wednesday night, the previous best was the 16-for-16 made by Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in 2005 playoffs, meaning that Barca beat that mark by 5. Curiously, Barca also has the third-best record for 100% of free throws made in a playoff game after going 13-for-13 in the 2012 playoffs. Now, the 21-for-21 set by head coach Saras Jasikevicius's team against Zalgiris will surely take some time to beat.

Live Blog: Olympiacos vs. Fenerbahce, EuroLeague Playoffs Game 1

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Game 1: Dominant second half lifts Reds over Fenerbahce

Sasha Vezenkov, Olympiacos: 'We played really solid defense'

### Olympiacos Piraeus head coach Georgios Bartzokas

"It is always important how many possessions you give, how many second chances they have. In the first half, they had too many. We just had to do our job defensively, getting the ball and just playing. Passing the ball, we had a lot of assists in the third quarter. Canaan was great, shooting the ball from a lot of spots, and finally, we managed to control the pace and manage to win by a difference of more than 10 points, which is not easy against such a good team. We will analyze this game tomorrow, but I think Game 2 will be even more difficult. Of course, the first game for the home-court team is under big pressure, because you have to protect whatever you achieved the whole year. But, we are happy we won today, but we need to be very consistent in the second game."

### Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul head coach Dimitris Itoudis

"Congratulations to Olympiacos. The momentum that Canaan made by hitting consecutive three-pointers, but in general, Olympiacos found open looks, five in a row if I am not mistaken, that we over-helped for no reason. It was not our strategy. It gave them an extra boost. We came back, but not completely back. We have to stay focused, they are such a team that can hurt you in a second."

"We came very well prepared, focused on trying to create as much as possible problems to Olympiacos, offensively and defensively. And we managed to do that. We were playing against the best team in the league, playing the most consistent basketball. Olympiacos was, and is, a team that does not need to use many dribbles to score points, and we tried to create a little bit different options for them. In the first half, we did manage to do this, but in the third quarter the momentum of 5 three-pointers, which was a mistake of losing concentration and losing connection between a creator and spot shooters. And that moment it was Canaan, and Vezenkov hit a three-pointer.

"In a game where Olympiacos scored more than 20 points in only one quarter, we were better in rebounds, even in assists, but 14 turnovers hurt us to just 5 steals, and Olympiacos had 7 of each. That's a big thing. At least we got something from the game that we can work on for the second game, but it was a lost opportunity in the way how we wanted the game to go. But Olympiacos found a way."

### Olympiacos Piraeus forward Sasha Vezenkov:

"It is just 1-0. No excitement, no emotions, no feelings. I know it is hard, but it is just 1-0. Fener has great players, great coach, they will come back. I think today we played a really solid defense. I think we need to repeat it even more. To see out mistakes, so we will be prepared for Game 2."

### Olympiacos Piraeus guard Isaiah Canaan:

"This is just one game. I give credit to all my teammates for finding me. They know all I got to do is see one go through and anything can happen. For them to keep looking for me after I made a couple, I give them credit. It is just one game, we got another game Friday, and that game is just as important as this one."

### Saras Jasikevicius, FC Barcelona head coach

"It's the playoffs, it's going to be demanding. I think we were playing good basketball, and every time that we relaxed or we didn’t play 100%, Zalgiris immediately came back into the game and was within the distance. This is what playoff basketball is all about – to keep pushing, not to lose concentration. We're playing against a very good team and we must expect a reaction. Today, I thought we hit the shots in the key moments, I thought we found good decisions, I think we controlled the turnovers, which is always very important. It's just starting, it's very important now to get some rest.

"Congratulations to all of our fans and the players for the job well done. I thought we had a very good half, we were playing very solid basketball. In general, over 40 minutes, I thought the third quarter was not so good, but for the biggest, longest periods of the game, we were playing good basketball. It was very obvious what we spoke about at halftime: every time we relaxed a little bit, we were not preventing Zalgiris from scoring easy points immediately. Zalgiris was coming back within the distance in the game, and I think this is what we need to think about and try to forget this game as quickly as possible, because in 48 hours it's one of the most crucial games of the season.

"I think that the team has been on the right track since the middle of January, the start of February. I think everyone understands the idea of what we want to do \[this season\]. Of course, the guys are very motivated for these types of nights, and the worst thing is that we won quite comfortably. I hope we don't think that it's always going to be like this; winning rather comfortably. \[Zalgiris\] didn’t have their best day, with 2 or 3 makes from three, some other things that we did well. Again, we are playing against a team with a lot of character. Surely they are going to have a reaction. We've seen all types of things in the playoffs in the last few years; a team winning a series after losing Game 1 by 20 \[points\], some cases of being down by 40. We need to be very intelligent and very professional."

### Kazys Maksvytis, Zalgiris Kaunas head coach

"They were more physical, more in the game, maybe down to their experience. Today, we had a bad game, but it's only one game. We'll try to win the next game.

"Congratulations to Barcelona. They started the game very well – they were physical, they were motivated, they got the advantage. In the third quarter and the start of the fourth quarter, it was better from our side, but it was not enough for a playoff game. We lost one fight, but we didn't lose the war. The next game, we'll try to win.

"At the start of the game, we started with a defensive five, but we still lost the \[battle for the\] rebounds, something we didn't expect. Barcelona was simply more physical; they scored, they grabbed the rebounds and they had the advantage from the start of the game because of the rebounds. Our guards… \[Isaiah\] Taylor just came back from injury, he was out of his rhythm and it was my decision to save him a bit more when I saw that we are losing, so for the next game I think he will be in better rhythm and better shape. And, of course, three-pointers. Barca collapsed more because we started missing. I think today was two main keys: Barca's three-pointers, \[also\] our three-pointers and then rebounds, especially in the first half.

"They controlled almost all the game. They have more experience – as a team and as players – and they used this experience, this physicality. First of all, I think we lost physicality-wise and secondly, we lost mentally. But it was just one game."

### Sertac Sanli, FC Barcelona center

"The score looks good, but it was a really tough game because it was a playoff game. We prepared for it and we put the hustle on the court – from the jump ball until the end. That's how we won the game. We need to keep playing like this. We need to keep hustling on the court, and we can get the next game. I try to help my teammates. Today it's me, tomorrow it's someone else. It doesn’t matter. We just try to win the game, we won the game and we'll try to get the next one."

### Kyle Kuric, FC Barcelona forward

"I thought we controlled the game very well and we played pretty well according to our game plan: not too many turnovers and we played good defense. Altogether, a good team win. Great first start and way to start the playoffs, and we have to continue because we have another game quickly."

Saras Jasikevicius, Barcelona: 'This is what playoff basketball is all about'

Live blogs: Barcelona, Olympiacos ace home openers by double digits!

LIVE BLOGS, GAME 1

[**Barcelona 91-69 Zalgiris: FINAL**](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2022-23/fc-barcelona-zalgiris-kaunas/E2022/310/)

Barcelona led from the opening tipoff to the final buzzer, almost always by double digits, to overwhelm visiting Zalgiris 91-69 in Game 1 of their best-of-five series on Wednesday. The favorites jumped in front 20-6 to start the game, reached a 48-31 lead at halftime, and surged again to 20-point leads in the fourth quarter on the way to victory. Sertac Sanli led five Barcelona double-digit scorers with 17 points in as many minutes, while Nikola Mirotic added 15. Barca shot 13-for-25 from downtown (52.0%) and a perfect 21-for-21 from the free throw line. Those are the most perfect free throws by an team in the playoffs ever.

7DAYS Magic Moment: Sergi Martinez dunks off Jokubaitis assist! 

[**Olympiacos 79-68 Fenerbahce: End of 3Q**](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/game-center/2022-23/olympiacos-piraeus-fenerbahce-beko-istanbul/E2022/307/)

The first-place team from the regular season defended its home court against feisty Fenerbahce. Olympiacos blew open a tight game late in the third quarter with a rain of three-point shots en route to tying the second-highest total made in a playoff game. Isaiah Canaan's fifth and sixth three-point strikes and another from Sasha Vezenkov established the game's first double-digit lead, which the Reds nursed from there thanks to 3 more shots from the arc by Shaquielle McKissic in the fourth quarter. Altogether, Olympiacos hit 16 of 29 triples (55.2%) to 9 of 20 (45.0%) for Fener. Vezenkov led the winners with 19 points and Canaan had 18, while Johnathan Motley paced the visitors with 15.

7DAYS Magic Moment Canaan on fire

[**AS Monaco 67-79 Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv | FINAL**](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/news/live-blog-as-monaco-vs-maccabi-playtika-tel-aviv-game-1)

Maccabi completed a Game 1 ambush in Monaco by blasting the hosts 67-79. It's Maccabi's first playoff victory since 2014 and defensive dominance spelled the difference as Monaco made just 3 of 25 three-pointers. Wade Baldwin led the winners with 20 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Lorenzo Brown followed with 15 points and Josh Nebo with 12. Alpha Diallo and Mike James scored 15 each for Monaco. Game 2 is on Thursday in Monaco. 

 7DAYS Magic Moment: Brown finds Nebo! 

[**Real Madrid 87-89 Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade | FINAL**](https://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/euroleague/news/live-blog-real-madrid-vs-partizan-mozzart-bet-belgrade-game-1)

In a stone thriller that went down to the final seconds, Kevin Punter buried a game-winning three-pointer in the final second for Partizan to steal home-court advantage with an 87-89 victory over Real Madrid. The hosts had held a fourth-quarter advantage of 77-70 with under 6 minutes left thanks to Gabriel Deck's inside scoring. But Partizan clawed back into the lead on a four-point play by Punter at 80-81 with 2:16 left. With an 84-84 tie with 34 seconds left, Punter's free throws put Partizan up, but Deck responded with a three-point play for an 87-86 Real lead with 21 seconds left. After a timeout, Partizan got the ball to Punter who drilled from the wing for the final score. Punter finished with 26 points for the winners while Deck had 24 for Real. Game 2 on Thursday in Madrid.

7DAYS Magic Moments: Punter wins it! 

Barcelona, Olympiacos ace home openers by double digits!

Game 1: Barcelona cruises past Zalgiris in series opener

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