2018-19Regular SeasonRound 11
Zalgiris Kaunas 83
Olympiacos Piraeus 75
December 06, 2018 CET: 19:00
Local time: 20:00 ZALGIRIO ARENA

Stunning comeback leads Zalgiris past Olympiacos

Zalgiris Kaunas mounted a stunning second-half comeback to record a thrilling 83-75 victory over Olympiacos Piraeus in a red-hot atmosphere at Zalgirio Arena. The Reds led by 13 early in the second quarter after putting on a clinic of three-point shooting, but stiffened defense and dominance inside the paint allowed Zalgiris to fight back and surge clear. The home team was led by a career-high 19 points from Marius Grigonis, and Nate Wolters combined 14 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Three big men all scored in double figures, with Aaron White netting 13 while Antanas Kavaliauskas and Brandon Davies both scored 12. Olympiacos's night was summed up by Georgios Printezis, who scored 16 points in the first half, but only 2 the rest of the way. Zach LeDay contributed 15 points in defeat. Zalgiris improved to 5-6 with Olympiacos one win better at 6-5.

A trio of three-pointers from Printezis gave Olympiacos an early lead, but solid inside shooting, including three baskets by Kavaliauskas, sent Zalgiris ahead 14-13. Printezis's fourth triple restored the visitors' advantage and further long-range strikes from Kostas Papanikolaou and Janis Timma made it 16-24. Then Vassilis Spanoulis connected from downtown for a 19-29 lead after 10 minutes and LeDay started the second quarter in similar fashion with another triple. White and LeDay exchanged big dunks, but Zalgiris gradually pulled closer with another flurry of close-range scores. A triple from Grigonis – the first for Zalgiris – made it 38-42, but Papanikolaou and Janis Strelnieks struck again from deep and it was 40-48 at the break. Zalgiris started the second half with an 8-0 burst to tie as Davies stepped up, but another triple – this time from Timma – sent Olympiacos back in front. 4 points from Spanoulis protected a narrow lead, but a thrilling finish to the third saw both White and Wolters steal and score to give Zalgiris its first lead, 60-59. Wolters netted again at the start of the fourth before Edgaras Ulanovas and Arturas Milaknis buried key triples to complete a 12-0 run. LeDay's mid-range jumper ended that sequence and a Nigel Williams-Goss three gave Olympiacos further hope, but Wolters struck from deep and Grigonis also nailed a three-pointer for a 76-66 lead with 2:24 left. There was no way back from there, and the home fans celebrated raucously.

Defense the difference for Zalgiris

It's easy to identify the key factor in this game: Zalgiris's vastly improved defense after the opening quarter. Olympiacos led 19-32 early in the second, but could only score another 43 points in the remaining 28 minutes as the home team increased its intensity and forced the Reds into committing 16 turnovers, led by 5 from Vassilis Spanoulis.

Grigonis enjoys a break-out night

The highest scorer of the evening was an unpredictable figure: Marius Grigonis had never scored more than three field goals in a EuroLeague game before, with free throws contributing heavily to his previous career-high of 13 points. But the 24-year-old guard, who grew up with Zalgiris and returned this summer after five years away, was unstoppable on this occasion, netting 5 of 6 two-pointers and 3 of 4 triples for a total of 19 points.

Printezis's incredible start to no avail

Georgios Printezis has played 265 games in the EuroLeague, but he has surely not made many better starts than on Friday night. The veteran forward scored 4 three-pointers in the first five minutes and also added a two-pointer and a block as his team surged clear. But he was then stifled and didn't score in the second half until just 8 seconds remained for the final basket of the game.

Next round

Zalgiris will seek its third straight win with a road trip to FC Bayern Munich next Friday. Olympiacos hosts high-flying Anadolu Efes Istanbul a day earlier.

Marius Grigonis - Zalgiris Kaunas - EB18
Thursday, December 6, 2018
Euroleague.net
Referees: LAMONICA, LUIGI; PEREZ, EMILIO; KOWALSKI, MARCIN
Attendance: 14385
By Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas19212023
Olympiacos Piraeus29191116
End of Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas19406083
Olympiacos Piraeus29485975
Zalgiris Kaunas
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 DAVIES, BRANDON 29:04 12 4/8   4/6 1 2 3 3   2 1 1 3 4 11
1 WALTON JR, DERRICK 3:27     0/2         1   1         -2
3 WOLTERS, NATE 28:11 14 5/11 1/2 1/2 2 5 7 6 1 1   2 1 2 18
7 WALKUP, THOMAS 4:02               1         1    
9 WESTERMANN, LEO 12:59   0/2 0/2     2 2 1 1 1     1 2  
17 BIRUTIS, LAURYNAS 3:27 2 1/1                         2
21 MILAKNIS, ARTURAS 24:08 6 0/1 2/7     3 3 2   2         3
30 WHITE, AARON 27:53 13 4/4 0/1 5/7   4 4 1 2       4 6 19
31 JOKUBAITIS, ROKAS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
40 GRIGONIS, MARIUS 27:15 19 5/6 3/4         1 1 3     2   14
44 KAVALIAUSKAS, ANTANAS 15:08 12 4/6   4/4   2 2       2   2 4 16
92 ULANOVAS, EDGARAS 24:26 5 1/2 1/1   2 2 4   1 1 1   2 3 10
Team           5 3 8               8
Totals 200:00 83 24/41 7/19 14/19 10 23 33 16 6 11 4 3 16 21 99
        58.5% 36.8% 73.7%
Head coach: JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
Olympiacos Piraeus
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 WILLIAMS-GOSS, NIGEL 21:44 9 3/7 1/4   1   1 3 1 1   1 3   2
4 TOLIOPOULOS, VASSILIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 SPANOULIS, VASSILIS 28:08 9 1/3 1/6 4/5   4 4 8 2 5     1 7 16
10 TIMMA, JANIS 14:08 9   3/4     4 4   1 3     3 1 8
11 MILUTINOV, NIKOLA 19:54 4 2/4     3 2 5 1 1 1     2 1 7
13 STRELNIEKS, JANIS 23:29 5   1/1 2/2   1 1 3 1 1     3 3 9
14 VEZENKOV, SASHA 2:52     0/1                       -1
15 PRINTEZIS, GEORGIOS 29:43 18 3/9 4/4   2 1 3 3     1 3 1 2 17
16 PAPANIKOLAOU, KOSTAS 25:54 6 0/1 2/4     6 6 2 1 2     1   9
17 MANTZARIS, VANGELIS 6:44     0/1             1     2   -4
31 BOGRIS, GEORGIOS 1:57   0/1                     1   -2
32 LEDAY, ZACH 25:27 15 4/7 1/1 4/4 2 2 4 1   1 2   4 2 16
Team                     1         -1
Totals 200:00 75 13/32 13/26 10/11 8 20 28 21 7 16 3 4 21 16 76
        40.6% 50% 90.9%
Head coach: BLATT, DAVID

Head Coaches

JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
Zalgiris Kaunas
“I feel great, we were down in a big hole and the only way for us is defense, we showed it in the third and fourth quarters. The guys have to be proud of themselves, it’s an amazing performance. It’s a man’s win. We changed our defensive system, maybe I should have done that earlier. The players dug deeper, showed more toughness, put their bodies on the line and you give yourself a chance that way. Olympiacos is a great team, I have so much respect for that organisation and coaching staff, they’re one of the best. We beat a great, great basketball team.”
BLATT, DAVID
Olympiacos Piraeus
“Congratulations to Zalgiris. The great second half they played was the big difference in the game. We played a great first half but 20 minutes won’t get you a win in a tough away gym like this. We really lost our way in terms of playing in an organised and disciplined fashion, and we paid for it. We lost 16 balls in the second half and zero in the first. It doesn’t take a genius to work out the result of that. The difference in the game was guard play, without doubt.”

Players

GRIGONIS, MARIUS
Zalgiris Kaunas
“It was a great game, and very important because we had a losing streak so now we’re on the right track. The first quarter wasn’t good but we stepped up and it’s a great win. In this team we have 12 players like the coach always tells us – today was my day and I’m happy to help the team.”
WOLTERS, NATE
Zalgiris Kaunas
“We played a really hard second half. We didn’t play a good first half and dug ourselves a hole, but we got a lot of stops in the second half and it’s a really good win. We played harder, stuck to the game plan, and then we could get out and run. It was a fun second half, the crowd was great and it’s good to win two in a row at home.”
No results found.