Butkevicius was Zalgiris's X-factor
Zalgiris Kaunas came off back-to-back home losses, but bounced back by downing Real Madrid 81-72 in front of its fans. Zalgiris needed some unexpected contributions and Arnas Butkevicius provided the hustle.
Butkevicius did a little bit of everything in the game, scoring 6 points in the second quarter to keep Zalgiris ahead, 37-35, at the break, and he stepped up in the fourth quarter to make sure his team won the game. Butkevicius provided offensive rebounds, assists, steals and points as his team needed them Zalgiris fed off his energy and used it in a 15-3 run that sealed the outcome late.
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Butkevicius finished the game with 10 points, 7 rebounds (4 of them on the offensive end), 2 assists, 1 steal and 4 fouls drawn for a career-high PIR of 19.
"I feel great, we needed this win," Butkevicius said after the game. "I don't want to speak about my individual performance, I am not concerned about that but most especially, we had the W. We needed it. We had a pretty bad stretch and I am just happy that we won."
Real head coach Chus Nateo praised Butkevicius after the game: "Zalgiris had more energy than us and beat us on all the 50-50 balls. They got some extra balls on the offensive rebounds, especially Butkevicius, that they converted in points at the end of the possessions, and that punished us a lot."