Zalgiris Kaunas has completed the 2023 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs picture! Zalgiris became the eighth and last team to make it to the playoffs, beating host FC Bayern Munich 80-83 in Round 34 to finish the regular season with a 19-15 record. Zalgiris is now set to face FC Barcelona, led by its former head coach and Lithuanian basketball legend Sarunas Jasikevicius, in a best-of-five series in which Barca will have the home-court advantage.
Zalgiris completes the bracket!
Euroleague News
4 Min lectura
Road to playoffs
Zalgiris made some key roster moves in the off-season, bringing in Keenan Evans, Ignas Brazdeikis, Rolands Smits, Kevarrius Hayes and Laurynas Birutis, as well as making Edgaras Ulanovas the new team captain, replacing retired legend Paulius Jankunas. Zalgiris had previously appointed Kazys Maksvytis as head coach in April 2022, 11 days after finishing the 2021-22 EuroLeague campaign.
Zalgiris opened the season with consecutive road losses, but quickly recovered with back-to-back home wins, using a final 8-0 run to edge Virtus Segafredo Bologna 68-65 and downing Barca 73-72 in the first of 16 consecutive sellout games at Zalgirio Arena. Pushed by an amazing crowd, Zalgiris won its first four home games and also recorded road victories against LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne and Valencia Basket to go to 6-4 in the standings. Three more home wins against Real Madrid, FC Bayern Munich and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul pushed the team's record to 9-8 after 17 rounds.
Zalgiris lost Tyler Cavanaugh and Evans to respective long-term injuries, bringing in Achille Polonara and Isaiah Taylor to replace them. Without leading scorer Evans, Zalgiris downed Virtus 77-87 and edged EA7 Emporio Armani Milan 61-66, both on the road, to stay in the upper part of the standings. Zalgiris then went through a tough stretch, losing five of six games, and soon registered back-to-back losses against Olympiacos Piraeus and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul to fall to 15-15. Zalgiris finished the regular season with a bang, though, winning three consecutive games at Zalgirio Arena and downing Bayern at the Audi Dome to clinch a playoffs spot.
Playoff experience
Zalgiris has some players with playoff experience. Edgaras Ulanovas and Laurynas Birutis were with Zalgiris when it last reached the playoffs in 2019. Ulanovas was also with the team in 2018, when Zalgiris went all the way to the Final Four. Lukas Lekavicius played two playoffs series with Panathinaikos Athens in 2018 and 2019.
The team's most experienced player at this level is Rolands Smits, who helped Barca beat Zenit St Petersburg in 2021 and Bayern in 2022 to reach the Final Four. Smits also played the 2021 championship game with his former team, losing against Anadolu Efes Istanbul. Experienced players like Hayes, Polonara, and Arnas Butkevicius are set to make their EuroLeague Playoffs debut. Hayes, however, helped Frutti Extra Bursaspor reach the 7DAYS EuroCup final last season, losing against Virtus.
Playoff history
Since the modern playoffs format began back in the 2004-05 season, Zalgiris has reached this stage twice. In 2018, Brandon Davies, Kevin Pangos and Vasilije Micic helped Zalgiris down Olympiacos 1-3, stealing a road in in Game 1 in Piraeus, 78-87, and beating the Reds twice at Zalgirio Arena to make the Final Four for the first time since lifting the trophy in 1999.
In 2019, Zalgiris won its last six regular season games to get to the playoffs against all odds. It managed to beat Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul in Game 2, 80-82, but went on to lose the series after back-to-back home defeats.
Overall, Zalgiris has played eight playoffs games, winning half of them. The next goal is a historical one: beating Barca to play the 2023 Final Four at home, in Kaunas!