When Lietkabelis Panevezys defeated Hamburg Towers on the road 72-87 on Monday, it was more than just about moving into the top four of the Group B standings and, possibly, remaining there to host a home game in the upcoming 7DAYS EuroCup Eighthfinals.
Lietkabelis came a long way between meetings with Hamburg
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Lietkabelis had only been involved in one 100-point game this season, but that three-digit magic number belonged to Hamburg during its Round 4 visit to Panevezys. Lietkablis set a club record that night with a performance index rating of 114 and tied another with 25 assists. Gediminas Orelik tied yet another club record by scoring 31 points.
But all that good offensive play was for naught because Lietkabelis's defense let Hamburg score 33 points in each of the first and fourth quarters and take the victory with a matching PIR of 114.
On Monday, in making up their Round 13 game, Lietkablis made sure no such mistake would happen again by limiting Hamburg to a single free throw in the first 5 minutes and 6 total points in the first 9. This time, Lietkabelis amassed another soaring PIR of 107, but in contrast to the first game between them, Hamburg was left with a PIR of 58.
That was proof, if anyone needed it, of improvement since that earlier meeting in Hamburg on November 10, which was part of Lietkabelis's 3-5 start to the season. Since the turn of the calendar to 2022, Lietkabelis is 6-3.
Now, the team can host an eighthfinals game with a win at Boulogne Metropolitans 92 on Wednesday, which would give it third place, a remarkable leap. Or Lietkabelis can hold onto fourth place if MoraBanc Andorra loses at Slask Wroclaw earlier the same evening.
Those home fans were bitterly disappointed back on November 10 but will be delighted if Lietkabelis finishes the week by bringing home an extra EuroCup home game of the do-or-die variety, just what every basketball fan loves this time of year.