Zalgiris Kaunas (9-6) took a win in the EuroLeague Round 15 game. Andrea Trinchieri’s team defeated Real Madrid (6-9) by 92-83 (24-19, 30-19, 18-22, 20-23) on the road.
Lonnie Walker IV led the winners with 21 points, all of them in the first half. Sylvain Francisco added 17, Brady Manek and Alen Smailagic each had 13, Deividas Sirvydis got 11 while Ignas Brazdeikis contributed 10 for Zalgiris.
Dzanan Musa paced Real with 15 points. Mario Hezonja added 14, Sergio Llull 12 and Gabriel Deck 10 for Los Blancos.
Walker got Zalgiris going with a three-pointer. Tavares answered with a put-back dunk, igniting a 7-0 run that Alberto Abalde capped with a bomb from downtown. Walker stepped up for the visitors with a driving layup. After Manek and Deck traded triples, Tavares’ jump hook gave Real a 8-12 lead. Walker and Manek each struck from beyond the arc to put Zalgiris back ahead, 14-13. Facu Campazzo took over with a driving layup, which Walker matched with a five-meter jumper. Hezonja provided another lead change, 16-18. Mike Mitchell and Sirvydis each joined the three-point shootout to give the visitors a 24-19 lead after 10 minutes.
Hezonja buried a turnaround shot early in the second quarter and Serge Ibaka matched Walker’s jumper with a power layup to make it 23-26. Smailagic silenced the crowd with a put-back slam. Llull answered from downtown before Walker scored again. The Zalgiris guard followed a dunk with a triple that caused Real to stop the game at 35-26. Francisco struck from beyond the arc and followed Smailagic's triple with a driving layup that capped a 15-0 Zalgiris run and gave the visitors a 43-26 lead. Eli Ndiaye and Llull stepped up for Los Blancos and then it was Zalgiris that called a timeout at 45-34. Sirvydis nailed a catch-and-shoot three-pointer, joining forces with Francisco to boost the lead to 54-38 at halftime.
Deck tried to ignite Real’s comeback with a backdoor layup right after the break. Hezonja made free throws and Tavares’ jump hook soon brought Los Blancos within 54-44. Hezonja scored off a midcourt steal to make it a single-digit game. Francisco and Abalde each struck from beyond the arc. After Brazdeikis buried a step-back jumper, Edgaras Ulanovas gave Zalgiris fresh air at 61-49. Manek sank his third triple, but Musa singlehandedly gave Real plenty of hope at 64-55. Manek downed a jumper, Brazdeikis erased Campazzo’s layup-plus-foul with a triple and Francisco kept Zalgiris way ahead, 72-58. Musa got Real a bit closer, 72-60, after 30 minutes.
Smailagic took over with a power layup early in the fourth quarter and Brazdeikis banked in a close shot that made it 76-60. Brazdeikis beat the shot clock with a highly-contested jumper. Deck improved on that with a three-point play and Tavares’ layup forced Zalgiris to call timeout at 78-65. Smailagic made free throws, Deck scored again and Campazzo’s follow-up layup got Los Blancos within 80-69 with 6 minutes left. Sirvydis and Francisco each buried a three-pointer to break the game open, 86-69. Real kept fighting in the final 4 minutes but only rallied once the outcome was clear.
