Zalgiris Kaunas (24-2) won their 20th consecutive victory in the Betsafe-LKL Championship. Andrea Trinchieri’s team defeated Siauliai - Casino Admiral (10-16) by 98-56 (21-11, 21-17, 31-17, 25-11) at Zalgirio Arena.
Alen Smailagic and Bryant Dunston opened the scoring, while Deividas Sirvydis connected from downtown, 7-2. Ignas Brazdeikis added 5 points, Laurynas Birutis made a free throw, and Smailagic tapped it in for a 15-7 lead. Edgaras Ulanovas, Isaiah Wong and Matt Mitchell also scored for Zalgiris, 21-11.
Ulanovas made his trademark shot, while Brazdeikis and Giedraitis made no mistakes from the free-throw line, 27-19. The same trio scored the next 8 points, with Brazdeikis and Giedraitis hitting a three-pointer each, 35-22. Arnas Butkevicius made 1 free throw, Smailagic was on target twice from mid-range, and Wong finished the second quarter with a jumper, 42-28.
At the start of the third period, Zalgiris collected 16 points in just 4 minutes: Sirvydis and Ulanovas scored from long range, Dunston was accurate from mid-range, and Giedraitis tallied 8 points, 58-34. Ulanovas scored 4 points and assisted on Mitchell’s three-pointer, 65-38. Butkevicius was also on target from three-point range, Brazdeikis scored from closer range and Dovydas Buika closed the third quarter with a three-pointer from the corner, 73-45.
Smailagic made a three-pointer, Brazdeikis took the offensive rebound with a foul, and Butkevicius finished nicely from under the basket, 81-48. Wong scored 6 points, Birutis, Mitchell, Brady Manek and young Buika scored the other points at the end of the game, 98-56.
Brazdeikis was the leading contributor with 15 points and 6 rebounds. Giedraitis and Ulanovas added 13 points each, as Smailagic finished with 11 points.