Laprovitola signed Barcelona’s escape from Kaunas

An important game was played in Kaunas between Zalgiris and Barcelona, ​​with Grimau’s team having the solution in the crisis and league leader Nicolas Laprovitola running away with 85:80 against Lithuania.

The Blaugrana winger had a particularly productive game, scoring 18 points on 4/9 three-pointers, while also hitting a crucial pair of shots to turn 80-81 into 80-83. Great game from Jan Veseli too with 15 points and 5 rebounds.

Zalgiris was stuck in the final and couldn’t score in the last four minutes. Laurinas Biroutis scored a career-high 18 points and 8/10 two-point shots, but his performance was not enough for the Kaunas team as he did not show the same performance in the second half as he did in the first.

The Spaniards are now 11:5, Zalgiris has fallen to 5:11 in the EuroLeague standings.

The race

It was a nice, well-paced game in Kaunas and Barcelona dominated the first period, scoring 28 points. Kalinic and Laprovitola were “hot” from the outside, each delivering four three-pointers in the first half of the game, while Birutis played an excellent game for the Lithuanians, wasting no effort. The pace of the game remained high, both teams shot with impressive speed beyond the 6:75 line and Nicolas Laprovitola scored the final point of the half with a long three-pointer to make it 56:51.

In the second half the pace was no longer the same, but the interest remained unbroken and the leadership changes followed each other. Neither team managed to make a difference and escape, and the thriller culminated in the final. Zalgiris held on until the end and failed to hit the basket in the final four minutes, with Barcelona having the composure and experience to win the game 85-80.

THE REFEREES: Paterniko, Petek, Thepenier

THE DECADES: 22-28, 51-56, 73-70, 80-85.

ZALGIRIS (Maksvitis): Evans 13 (6 rebounds), Lekavicius, Hayes, Giedraitis 6, Schmitz 11 (7 rebounds), Birutis 18 (8/10 2-pointers, 2/4 shots), Hollins 3, Sumner 7, Dimsa 5 ( 4 assists), Lavrinovicius 2, Manek, Ulanovas 15 (4/6 two-pointers, 1/2 three-pointers)

BARCELONA (Grimeau): Da Silva, Pauli, Vesely 15 (5 rebounds), Brithuela 8, Kalinic 12 (4/9 three-pointers, 8 rebounds), Satoranski 10 (2/4 three-pointers), Hernangomet 6, Laprovitola 18 (4/9 three-pointers , 3 rebounds, 4 assists), Parker 8 (8 rebounds), Nagy 2, Yokubaitis 6 (4 assists)

Zalgiris team stats: 20/34 2-pointers, 8/20 3-pointers, 16/20 shots, 29 rebounds, 17 assists, 4 steals, 13 turnovers

Barcelona team statistics: 18/32 2-pointers, 12/30 3-pointers, 13/19 shots, 33 rebounds, 25 assists, 3 steals, 11 turnovers

The next games of the two teams: On the next matchday, Zalgiris hosts Maccabi (December 28th, 8:00 p.m.), while Barcelona has a difficult away game against Monaco (December 29th, 10:00 p.m.).