Zalgiris Kaunas (6-3) started the EuroLeague double-round week with a loss. Andrea Trinchieri’s team lost 77-83 (16-17, 20-23, 20-22, 21-21) to Paris Basketball (6-3) on the road.
TJ Shorts led all scorers with 21 points and Collin Malcolm had 17, while Nadir Hifi and Kevarrius Hayes netted 10 apiece.
For the visitors, Ignas Brazdeikis recorded 15 points, Arnas Butkevicius paired his 12 points with 9 rebounds, and Laurynas Birutis added 11 points.
Shorts opened the scoring with a trademark mid-range jumper before setting up Hayes, who netted inside for an early four-point lead. Matt Mitchell and Tyson Ward traded buckets before Lonnie Walker’s first EuroLeague points brought Zalgiris within 5-6. A triple from Hifi was followed by a jumper from Walker, but Malcolm nailed one of his own to give Paris an 7-11 cushion. Yet, Birutis took over and netted 7 points to put Zalgiris ahead, 14-13. Then, Malcolm sank a corner triple before Dovydas Giedraitis beat the first-quarter buzzer with a layup to make it 16-17.
Hayes scored inside, but Brazdeikis completed a three-point play off the bench for a 21-20 lead. Then, Shorts drove all the way to the basket and Malcolm netted another triple for a 21-25 cushion. Brazdeikis and Hifi exchanged baskets before the latter made a couple of free throws, opening a 23-29 margin. Bandja Sy drilled a three-pointer, but four points from Butkevicius and three free throws from Sylvain Francisco brought Zalgiris within 30-32. Then, Butkevicius and Shorts traded baskets before the latter nailed an open triple to restore a 33-37 lead. Deividas Sirvydis finally knocked down a triple after 13 unsuccessful attempts from seven different Zalgiris players, but Shorts responded with a three-point play for a 36-40 cushion at halftime.
Walker started off the third quarter with a corner triple before Birutis scored twice inside to put Zalgiris back in front, 45-43. The game suddenly turned into a back-and-forth affair, with Brazdeikis netting a triple and Malcolm completing a three-point play to give Paris a 51-52 lead. Butkevicius slammed home a dunk off the baseline, drew a foul and nailed a free throw, but Shorts and Hifi sank back-to-back triples in transition for a 54-58 lead. Shorts extended Paris’s run to 10 points with a floater, however a put-back bucket from Ulanovas trimmed the deficit to 56-62 heading into the final quarter.
Hayes scored twice in the paint to give Paris a double-digit lead, 56-67, for the first time in the game. Zalgiris didn’t score a single fourth-quarter field goal until Ulanovas completed a three-point play with 6:27 remaining to cut the difference to 60-69. Mikael Jantunen and Mitchell traded baskets before a three-point play from Brazdeikis kept Zalgiris in touch, 65-73. Yet, Maodo Lo’s triple was followed by Leopold Cavaliere’s dunk to restore a 65-78 lead. Zalgiris responded with two straight dunks from Brazdeikis and Butkevicius, then Francisco netted three unanswered points to trim the deficit to 72-78 with 1:24 left on the clock. Yet, Jantunen sank a dagger from beyond the arc to end Zalgiris’s momentum and practically finished the game off by making it 72-81, despite the visitors' effort to bounce back with less than a minute remaining.