Sylvain Francisco and Ignas Brazdeikis were the hosts' heroes on the night
Zalgiris powers past Barcelona, 74-67
Zalgiris Kaunas started its 2024-45 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague campaign in style by beating FC Barcelona 74-67 at a buzzing Zalgirio Arena on Thursday. The hosts dictated the tempo throughout the content and imposed their style of play on FC Barcelona by playing tough on defense, which forced the visitors to score fewer than 20 points in each of the four quarters.
Sylvain Francisco led all scorers with 19 points, 15 of which were scored in the closing quarter. Ignas Brazdeikis also stood out on his return to Zalgiris and netted 17 points. Nico Laprovittola scored 12 points for the guests, with Kevin Punter and Jabari Parker recording 11 each.
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Summer signings Tyrone Wallace and Brazdeikis netted a bucket apiece to start the game, but Willy Hernangomez responded from inside to tie it at 4-4. Brazdeikis sliced through Barcelona’s defense twice after a Jabari Parker triple and scored two layups to put Zalgiris ahead, 10-7. Then, Deividas Sirvydis opened his account from beyond the arc on his Zalgiris debut, but Barcelona newcomer Punter responded with one of his own on the other end to make it 13-10. Triples from Dovydas Giedraitis and Dovydas Giedraitis extended Zalgiris’s lead to 21-14 heading into the second quarter.
Wallace and Brazdeikis started strong again in the second and gave Zalgiris a 25-14 cushion. Yet, Barcelona fought back, with Laprovittola drilling a triple from deep to trim the deficit to 27-21. Boosted by the energy injected by the fans, Zalgiris responded with two triples from Arnas Butkevicius and a hard-fought Laurynas Birutis bucket to restore a 37-26 lead. Punter replied to a Matthew Mitchell midrange jumper with a triple on the other end, but Brazdeikis drilled an impossible off-balance basket to beat the second-quarter buzzer and make it 43-31 at the break.
Barcelona hit the ground running in the second half, forcing Zalgiris to commit 3 turnovers, and Laprovittola and Tomas Satoransky made the most of them to cut the difference to 43-37. Zalgiris struggled on offense and netted just one bucket in the first four and a half minutes of the third quarter. In the meantime, Alex Abrines drilled a three-pointer and Laprovittola nailed a layup to bring Barcelona within 45-42. Then, Sirvydis sank his second triple of the game, but buckets from Chimezie Metu and Parker were followed by two free throws from Justin Anderson, who tied the game at 48-48. Edgaras Ulanovas came off the bench to provide his team with some much-needed energy, stealing a ball and scoring one from inside to give Zalgiris a narrow 50-48 cushion heading into the last quarter.
The hosts started strong in the fourth, with Brazdeikis and Mitchell scoring from inside before the former drilled one from deep to extend Zalgiris’s lead to 57-48. But Barcelona fought back and responded with a 0-6 run of their own, inspired by Parker. Yet, a step-back triple from Francisco got the fans off their seats before two buckets from the Zalgiris guard and another 2 three-pointers took his tally to 17 points and allowed the hosts to restore a 72-65 lead, practically clinching the victory.