Zalgiris battles EuroLeague champions till the last minute in Istanbul 17

Anadolu Efes Istanbul brought an end to its two-game losing streak on Wednesday evening by beating Zalgiris Kaunas 80-70 at Sinan Erdem Sports Hall. With this win, Efes improved to 11-11 and rose to ninth in the standings, just outside of the playoff places, while Zalgiris in seventh dropped to 12-10.

Will Clyburn was the star performer for Efes, finishing with 19 points and 7 rebounds. Bryant Dunston had 12 points, Vasilije Micic chipped in with 11, and Shane Larkin added 10.

Zalgiris guard Ignas Brazdeikis scored a career-high 25 points in the losing effort. Edgaras Ulanovas contributed 15 for Zalgiris, too.

Perhaps taking advantage of Efes’ disappointing results in recent weeks, Zalgiris got off to a hot start, opening a 4-0 lead. Kevarrius Hayes’ fingerprints were all over the first four minutes, as he scored 4 points, had 1 big block on Amath M’Baye and then recorded a steal, with Zalgiris ahead 12-8. Next, it was the turn of Brazdeikis to come to the fore, as he took his tally to 8 points with 2:49 remaining after scoring a tough step-back two-pointer of Micic, 16-12. Efes scored 4 straight points to close the quarter, 16-16, but Zalgiris never trailed inside the opening 10 minutes.

However, the first points of the second quarter came from Clyburn, as Efes took its first lead of the game, 18-16. In particular, Larkin and Clyburn began to torment Zalgiris, as the hosts swelled its lead to 33-23 with 2:37 to go before halftime. Micic made it a 13-point game after hitting a three-pointer, 36-23, with just under 90 seconds left on the clock, before the teams went into the break with 10 points separating them, 38-28.

Efes got off to the perfect start after halftime, with Clyburn draining a triple to move to 14 points in the game, 41-28. Shortly after, Brazdeikis picked up where he left off in the first quarter, seeing back-to-back three-pointers fall to keep Zalgiris alive, 41-34. When Brazdeikis made it 41-36 with 7:21 remaining thanks to a step-back mid-range jumper over Larkin, he had tied his career high for points with 21. As the quarter progressed, Zalgiris trimmed the gap down to 3 points, 46-43, but a couple of free throws by Larkin and 5 straight points by Micic calmed things down from an Efes perspective, 53-43. Heading into the fourth, it was 55-49 thanks to Tomas Dimsa’s made triple.

Rodrigue Beaubois helped Efes reestablish its 9-point advantage, 60-51, by scoring 5 straight points of his own in the early going. By the midway point in the fourth quarter, Brazdeikis moved up to 25 points after draining his fourth triple of the game, but Zalgiris found itself down by 11, 67-56. Efes looked in control entering the game’s final minutes, with the hosts up 72-61 with 3:10 to go after Micic saw another three-pointer fall. But, Lukas Lekavicius scored 5 points in a row to cut the deficit to 6, 72-66. It reduced to 4, 72-68, as Dimsa scored a layup off an Ulanovas steal, and then 2, 72-70, after Arnas Butkevicius went 2-for-2 from the line, with 1:24 remaining. Just when Zalgiris thought its comeback was on the verge of being complete, Larkin scored a two-pointer to make it a 4-point game and then Clyburn stole the ball before taking it up the floor and dunking on Hayes, 76-70. On Zalgiris’ following possession, Clyburn came up clutch once again, grabbing a crucial defensive rebound before carrying the ball up court and finding the open Beaubois, who scored a layup, 78-70. Beaubois added another layup in the final seconds to make sure of the result, 80-70, as Efes won for the first time since Round 19 and condemned Zalgiris to its second straight defeat.

Comments

  1. 709

    Pralaimejom cempionams,o ne PAO. Na bet dar turim rungtyniu kuriuose reikia iskovoti pergales.

  2. j

    sugriuvus visai komandele, barstys taskus dabar i kaire ir desine..

  3. Fanas

    For example: Karolis Lukosiunas: 25 years, 4 seasons, 0,0 defense and 0 pts, Sniper !!! Dentmon was criticized at the time for scoring a lot of points but not contributing to the defense !!! Giedraitis 22 years, 1. season, comes from some injuries, has no game practice, OK it´s normal, came in against Panathinaikos, mad 2 turnovers and out, got no minutes against Wolves, comes in against Efes, makes 1 turnover and 1 foul and out. How is this young man supposed to gain match practice?

  4. Aha

    O dar tik prieš savaitę svaigo kažkas apie kažkokius TOP8 ir net final four. Bet Žalgiriukas atėjus metui, kaip visada parodo savo tikrą veidą ir pasirūpina, kas grižtumę į realybę. Paskutiniai lūzeriai jie yra, nieko iš jų nelikę. Ir tegul pataupo, Tailoro jau po sekančių rungtynių nebereikės. Aišku nebent tas LKL čia kažkam dar įdomus.

  5. Fanas

    Niekaip nesuprantu, ką komandoje veikia totalus šūdo gabalas Lukošiūnas – bl.. visiškai neįgalus, impotentas visose aikštės vietose. Gynyboj didelė skylė, nieko nesugeba, pulti nemoka, be trajako daugiau nieko neturi, koks jis po velnių snaiperis, jei pataikyt sugeba tik kas 10-15 rungtynes ?? Kam toks tranas išvis reikalingas, visur pastoviai nepatenkintas, mesti jį nafik lauk ir kuo greičiau. Sėdi toks subingalvis, pinigus siurbia, o nauda minusinė. Aišku kosmoso neuždirba, bet išmetus jį lauk, vis liktų keli eurai kad ir laikinai, kokiam mėnesiui įžaidėją paimt, pabandom mėnesį kol Teiloras grįš ir užtektų. Bet tas šūdas Lukošiūnas tam trukdo

  6. Fanas

    …Giedraitis not agains Wolves—> against CBet. sorry

  7. BBD meras

    Sveikinimai Žalgiriui bent jau už tai, kad pavyko išvengti išniekinimo. Po Jonavos išdulkinimo, galvojau bus daug blogiau.

  8. abc

    polonara 2 taskai, va cia tai papildymas. komanda nors silpnesne bet kol kas renka ta pacia vargana statistika kaip ir efese, jei taip ir toliau tai po sezono pats prasysis paliekamas

  9. Pagarba

    Po labai prastu runktyniu su Pao bent jau su Efes nesugriuvom sukovojom iki galo net kai budavo +11 Zalgiris grizdavo aisku Brazdeikio geriausios runktynes Eurolygoje bet dvieju zaideju neuztenka pergalei laimet nors pozityvo buvo sansas kai buvo 70-72 ir vaikiskos klaidos apmaudzios Efes 6 taskai is eiles

  10. Pagarba

    Tokiais momentais kai buvo 70-72 truko Evans ar Tayloro aisku Dimsa pabaigoje tik aktyvesnis buvo O truko Smits geresnio zaidimo momentais Lekavicius isove

  11. Darius

    Po Evanso traumos Zalgiris tapo labai pazeidziamas, naujas izaidejas iskrito taip ir nespejes apsilti koju, todel dabar visos komandos atakuos Zalgirio mazus. Giedraitis nera eurolygos lygio, Lukas nepaveza, Dimsa vargsta ne savo pozicijoje. Su Kalnieciu buvo atsisveikinta. Su tokia gyneju linija bus labai sunku iskovoti pergaliu. Plius 3 rungtynes is eiles visai dinges musu juodadarbis arkliukas Butkevicius, jo tarsi nera aiksteleje. Jei vyrai kovos, kazka iveiks, jei plesysis ir nepames galvos. Laukia sunkus vasaris. Per si men labai svarbu stipriai nenukrist zemyn, nes 8 liks tik svajone

  12. Maksvytis

    Kiekviena karta kartos truko kokybes gaila kad kokybes trukumas trukumas mums kainavo pergale kaip netruks kokybes jei neturim tikro izaidejo lemiamais momentais

  13. Del Giedraicio

    Tai reikejo skolint Giedraiti dar nera lengva Eurolygoje mazai naudos per savo minutes

  14. Fanas2

    Nekiekvienas runktynes Lukociunas gauna min aisku siendien Maksvycio isleidimas Lukociuno nepasiteisino

  15. Saulius

    Kažin Lukas gali žaisti krepšinį ?

  16. Zzz

    Kazys visiškai nemoka išnaudoti Luko. Tas matėsi tiek rinktinėj tiek čia. O dabar žmogus ir psichologiškai nusodintas. Ir tas Dimšos priverstinis kišimas, nors naudos iš jo tik kas penktas rungtynes. Aišku šiuo metu ir pasirinkimo nelabai turim, bet vaizdelis liūdnas ir nepanašu, kad kas pasitaisys.

  17. Darius

    sutinciau, kad neisnaudoja Polinaro, bet kad neisnaudoja Luko, nesutinku. Lukas yra izaidejas ir turi vadovauti atakai, bet ji paspaudzia ir jis dingsta. Daejom iki to, kad Lukas nubega i puolima ir stovi, o kamuoli i ataka varosi Brazdeikis. Evansas niekada nebutu taip zaides, rimtas izaidejas pasiima kamuoli ir jam dzin tas spaudimas.