Gran Canaria's efficiency was the key to its home win on Wednesday.
Fewer turnovers, crashing defensive glass carry Gran Canaria past Lietkabelis



Dreamland Gran Canaria entered its home game against 7bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys as one of the most efficient teams in the BKT EuroCup. But it was the reigning champs’ limiting its own turnovers and crashing the defensive glass that carried them to the win and a 5-0 record.
Gran Canaria remained undefeated in Group B with an 88-77 victory with an efficient performance as always. The Spanish side made 52.3 percent of its two-pointers and 45.8% on three-pointers while committing only 7 turnovers.
The first two numbers were not uncommon for Jaka Lakovic’s team, coming into the game as the number one shooting team on two-pointers (61.6%) and ranked second (42.6%) on three-pointers. And Gran Canaria’s 104 team index rating was right in line with its average of 107.5, which was fourth-best.
But the turnovers were a different story. Lakovic’s team had lost 16.0 turnovers per game, which was 17th in the league. So Gran Canaria taking care of the ball so well was a real change.
The Spanish team forced Lietkabelis into 15 miscues and that resulted in a 20-10 advantage in points off turnovers.
Another major reason for the win was Gran Canaria crashing the glass. Lietkabelis actually led the rebound battle 33-31, but the guests grabbed only 6 offensive rebounds - 7.3 fewer than its average coming into the game. Gran Canaria has been the best defensive rebounding team in the EuroCup this season, including limiting opponents to just 8.5 offensive rebounds - second best ranking in the league.
"We were ready, especially doing things aggressively, rebounding the ball well and creating our opportunities in early offense. This gave us confidence to play. And in the end we managed to have the game under control more or less throughout," Lakovic said about the game.
Lietkabelis entered the game scoring only 78.8 points per game, ranking last in two-point shooting (46.6%) and seventh in three-point accuracy (38.5%). The Lithuanian side managed to make 62.9% of its shots from inside the three-point line but only 33.3% from long range - creating only 14 assists.
All in all, Gran Canaria once again showed how efficient of a team it can be.