Zalgiris Kaunas opened the Betsafe-LKL playoffs with a win. In the first game of the quarter-final series, Andrea Trinchieri’s team defeated Neptunas Klaipeda 88-75 (21-14, 22-20, 24-21, 21-20) at Zalgirio Arena and took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-3 series.
Alenas Smailagic scored 7 points early in the game to make it 9-9. Sylvain Francisco broke through under the basket, later Laurynas Birutis corrected his missed shot, Arnas Butkevicius and Dovydas Giedraitis hit a three-pointer each, Edgaras Ulanovas sank a free throw, 21-14.
Deividas Sirvydis connected on a three-pointer, Birutis scored 4 points, and Giedraitis extended the run to 14-0 to make it 30-14. Matt Mitchell scored, Sirvydis made another long-range shot and later assisted Ulanovas, 37-24. Mitchell was accurate from long range, Ignas Brazdeikis made a free throw, Mitchell added two free throws, and Zalgiris was ahead 43-34 before the big break.
Ulanovas scored 4 points, Birutis chipped in, Butkevicius and Brazdeikis hit a three-pointer each, 55-39. Ulanovas, Birutis and Giedraitis made layups, and Smailagic finished the third period with 6 consecutive points, 67-55.
Sirvydis and Smailagic combined for 3 of the 5 free throws, but those were the only points scored by Zalgiris within 5 minutes, 70-68. Then Brazdeikis scored 4 points, Smailagic hit a mid-range shot, and Ulanovas and Giedraitis added 3 points each, 82-71. The last points for Zalgiris were scored by Brazdeikis, Ulanovas and Mantas Laurencikas, 88-75.
Smailagic was the leading scorer with 16 points. Ulanovas had 15 points and 8 rebounds. Brazdeikis finished with 12 points and 5 assists.
