Zalgiris Kaunas (14-16) lost to FC Barcelona (17-13) by 70-82 (20-16, 11-20, 20-23, 19-23) in the EuroLeague Round 30 on the road.
Dario Brizuela led the way with 20 points. Justin Anderson had 16 points, Kevin Punter netted 14 and Chimezie Metu finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds in the win.
Three Zalgiris players scored 13 points: Sylvain Francisco, Ignas Brazdeikis and Deividas Sirvydis.
The two teams traded blows from the early going, with Francisco scoring 5 points for the visitors and Anderson doing the same for the hosts, including a three-pointer. A three-point play from Brizuela made it 10-14, but Sirvydis nailed back-to-back triples to put Zalgiris ahead before a pair of baskets from Bryant Dunston opened a 20-14 lead. The visitors had a 20-16 advantage after 10 minutes.
Joel Parra opened the second quarter with a three-pointer and his basket from close range capped a 9-0 run to put the hosts 20-23 ahead. Edgaras Ulanovas ended the visitors’ drought, but Metu hit a pair of shots, and transition baskets from Satoransky and Brizuela opened a 24-31 lead. Sirvydis answered by hitting a long-range jumper, but the lead reached 8 points before Brazdeikis hit from short range and deep as Barcelona went into halftime with a 31-36 edge.
Anderson and Willy Hernangomez, who had a fast-break dunk, opened a 33-40 lead. Brazdeikis hit a triple for the visitors, but Jabari Parker nailed one for the hosts. Giedraitis and Francisco took it to the rim to cut the margin to 42-45. But Brizuela nailed a triple and added a short off-balance jumper, then Parra fought his way inside to open a 43-52 advantage. A triple from Anderson gave Barcelona the first double-digit lead of the night, 47-57, and the hosts led 51-59 after 30 minutes.
Smailagic opened the fourth quarter with a layup, but Anderson scored inside before Brizuela hit a wide-open three to open a 53-64 margin. Brazdeikis hit a long jumper, but Brizuela scored a mid-range shot, then a second-chance three-pointer to open 58-71. Isaiah Wong cut it back to single digits, but Metu scored twice more. Sirvydis kept Zalgiris hope alive with another triple, but Punter and Anderson made sure the visitors do not get closer than 9 points, closing out the game.
