Žalgiris, who settled in the second half, opened the LKL final with an easy win / News

At the beginning of the final of the Lithuanian Basketball League (Betsafe-LKL), Vilnius Rytas had exactly a quarter. Kaunas “Žalgiris”, accelerating after the first quarter, defeated the Vilnius guests and claimed two LKL champion title victories.

Martin Schiller’s students in the first final at home 90:75 (23:23, 28:12, 20:24, 19:16) defeated Vilnius basketball players “Rytas” and led 1-0 in the series with up to three wins.

The second game of the series will be played in Vilnius.

In the first half, led by Ivano Buva, Rytas offered the hosts an equal fight (23:23), but seeing that the Vilnius rivals were in no mood to joke, the Žalgiris basketball players demonstrated an elite defense of the Euroleague in the second quarter. – They allowed rivals to score just 12 points, scored 28 and took a break with a double-digit lead – 51:35.

After the victory, “Žalgiris” coach Schiller stressed that two statistical components helped break up the match.

“We have improved intensity, aggression and these improved components have brought us better defense in the second half,” said the strategist.

In the third trimester, the people of Vilnius started with an outbreak 10: 4 and after Arno Butkevithe three point difference has been reduced to 10 points (45:55), taChow Kaunas residents responded to the section 7: 2, O Joffrey Lauvergne’as dvitaregained a 15-point lead (65:50).

Screw dVilnius was more successful in completing the quarter (7: 2) go by Augusto MarThe čiulionis colon was 59:71 behind.

The last quarter of the match became a formality – although the Vilnius team tried to pass the time, “Žalgiris” responded with a snatch and 4 minutes after Nigel Hayes’ colon, 17 points (83:66) bei numarched to victory.

Man of the match
	EFF 27
Joffrey Lauvergne
Points	18
Precision	9-10
Bounces	10
Effective transfers	1

5 points were scored in this match Basketball players “Rytas”, at that time 10 players scored on the field “Žalgiris”.

“We won the game, which is the most important thing. We really did a lot of good things. However, we allowed the rivals to recover too many balls in attack, we gave many second chances, but we controlled the game and the most important thing was victory”, Martin Geben, the Žalgiris midfielder, was happy with the win – start of the series.

“Žalgiris” was coached by Lauvergne, who scored 18 points (9/10 doubles, 0/1 penalty) in 29 minutes, bounced 10 and took 2 balls, made 1 assists, made 3 errors and scored 27 assists.

The capital club did not save Buva from defeat. The alto scored 22 points in 29 minutes (9/11 double, 1/3 trit., 1/1 penalty), bounced 5 and lost 1 ball, made 2 assists and scored 25 utility points.

“We looked good on defense only in the first half. You have to be much more physical if you want to win a trip against a Euroleague team, Buva said at the post-match press conference. – We did everything right only in the first 10 minutes, then we collapse and when you start your opponents, it is very difficult to get back into the game, especially against a high-level team like “Žalgiris”. In the next game we have to play well from the first to the last minute, be much more tough on defense and then who knows. “

The Vilnius team leader was also supported by his strategist Giedrius Žibėnas due to the poor second half of the match.

“We lost the match in the second half – 28:12. In the other halves we did not have as many problems as in the second, and in the decisive moments of the match we completely lost our physicality and bounced balls. As a result, this is the final result. .

I should take the most responsibility myself, because the coaches could better rotate the players. These are the bodies of the Euroleague and with so much rotation it is not easy to endure all the games. Nor do I convince the team of the importance of reasonable fouls, as finishing the last quarter with 2 fouls is unjustified. However, the most important thing is that our faith must be on a completely different level. I didn’t feel that faith today, “Rytas’s helmsman shared his thoughts.

“Žalgiris”: Joffrey Lauvergne 18 (9/10 AD, 10 rebels, 27 users), Lukas Lekavičius 12 (4/5 AD), Martin Geben (5/6 AD) and Augustine ‘as Rubitas (7th ed. ) after 10, Nigel Hayes and Thomas Walkup (7 ed.) after 9, Marius Grigonis 7 (4 ed.).

Rytas: Ivanas Buva 22 (9/11 double, 5 rebounds, 25 users), Andrew Goudelockas 17 (2/8 double, 2/5 trit., 7/8 penalty), Arnas Butkevičius 12 (3/4 trit. , 5 sec.), Martynas Echodas 11 (4/9 double, 6 sec.).

Match summary:

Schiller’s comment:

Comment from Žibėnas:

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