2019-20Regular SeasonRound 15
Khimki Moscow Region 83
Zalgiris Kaunas 74
December 20, 2019 CET: 18:00
Local time: 20:00 ARENA MYTISHCHI

Jovic leads Khimki past Zalgiris

Khimki Moscow Region bounced back from a tough overtime loss by downing Zalgiris Kaunas 83-74 at home on Friday. Khimki improved to 8-7 while Zalgiris dropped to 3-12 and is on a nine-game losing streak. Stefan Jovic and Alexey Shved led the winners with 25 points apiece, and Jeremy Evans added 10. Jock Landale led Zalgiris with a personal-best 24 points while Thomas Walkup scored 10. Devin Booker and Shved fueled an early 11-0 run which allowed Khimki to keep a 21-16 lead after 10 minutes. Anthony Gill, Evans and Jovic helped the hosts stay in charge, 38-33, at halftime. Lukas Lekavicius hit consecutive floaters to make Zalgiris tie the game late in the third quarter. But Shved buried a couple of three-pointers in an 8-0 run that put Khimki ahead for good, 57-49, after 30 minutes. Jovic and Shved made sure the hosts kept a safe margin throughout the fourth quarter.

KC Rivers hit a jumper and Edgaras Ulanovas added a layup to give Zalgiris an early 2-4 lead. Shved stepped up for Khimki, scoring 6 points in an 11-0 run highlighted by Booker's dunk. Walkup answered from downtown, igniting a 0-9 run in which Landale had the next 6 points to tie the game, 13-13. Jonas Jerebko rescued Khimki with a layup and Shved added a stop-and-pop jumper but Arturas Milaknis struck from beyond the arc for a 17-16 score. An alley-oop dunk by Evans and a fast break slam by Gill restored a 21-16 Khimki lead after 10 minutes. Lukas Lekavicius bettered Chris Kramer's jumper with a triple early in the second quarter, but Evans sank a jumper and Jovic added a three-pointer to boost the hosts' lead. Milaknis and Jovic traded baskets, then Landale brought the guests a bit closer, 30-25. Evans and Gill kept pacing Khimki but Landale and Nigel Hayes kept Zalgiris within 38-33 at halftime. Zach LeDay scored off the baseline immediately after the break and Landale added a layup to make it a one-point game, 38-37. Shved and Jovic tried to change things for the hosts but Walkup and Landale kept Zalgiris within 42-40. Evans dunked and Jonas Jerebko found his first points, before Lekavicius buried an off-balance floater and Jovic delivered a bomb from downtown. Lekavicius kept pacing Zalgiris, getting help from Hayes and Landale to tie the game, 49-49. But Jovic scored in penetration and Shved downed consecutive triples for a 57-49 Khimki lead after 30 minutes. Jovic netted from beyond the arc early in the fourth to make it a double-digit game. Rivers followed a layup with a three-pointer to give Zalgiris hope, 60-54, with 8 minutes left. An unstoppable Jovic answered from downtown and added a driving layup that made the guests stop the game at 65-54. Jovic sank his fifth three-pointer and Shved copied him for a 71-59 Khimki lead with 4 minutes left. LeDay dunked in traffic and Walkup added a layup but Khimki had already started to run down the game clock and a fast break basket by Kramer sealed the outcome with two minutes to go.

Pivotal performer

Stefan Jovic was just unstoppable on offense, hitting almost every shot and dictating the game tempo. He finished with a career-high 25 points on 4-of-4 two-point shots, 5-of-6 three-pointers and 2-of-2 free throws. He added 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 3 fouls drawn for a PIR of 29.

Game-changing moment

A floater by Lekavicius tied the game, 49-49, late in the third quarter. But Jovic quickly scored in penetration, then Shved buried a three-pointer in transition and immediately struck again from downtown in Khimki's next offense and the home team led the rest of the way.

Stellar stat

Rebounds and three-point shots made the difference in this game. Khimki outrebounded Zalgiris by 33-25 and fired in 12-of-23 three-point shots (52.2%). Zalgiris struggled from downtown, hitting just 5-of-21 shots (23.8%).

Did you notice?

This was Khimki's 8th consecutive win against Zalgiris. Khimki is undefeated at home against the Lithuanian powerhouse: 5 games, 5 wins. Zalgiris's only win against Khimki was almost a decade ago, triumphing 73-65 in Kaunas on November 18, 2010.

Next game:

Khimki visits LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne on Thursday, December 26 at 20:45 CET. A day later, on Friday, December 27, Zalgiris visits FC Bayern Munich at 20:30 CET.

Stefan Jovic - Khimki Moscow Region - EB19
Friday, December 20, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: CHRISTODOULOU, CHRISTOS; PERUGA, CARLOS; SHEMMESH, SEFFI
Attendance: 4872
By Quarter1234
Khimki Moscow Region21171926
Zalgiris Kaunas16171625
End of Quarter1234
Khimki Moscow Region21385783
Zalgiris Kaunas16334974
Khimki Moscow Region
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 SHVED, ALEXEY 33:03 25 1/6 6/9 5/5   2 2 5   7     4 6 19
3 KRAMER, CHRIS 25:21 4 2/4 0/2     3 3 5 2 1     1 2 10
5 BOOKER, DEVIN 17:01 9 3/6 1/2   2 2 4   1 2     1 1 8
7 KARASEV, SERGEY 12:22   0/3     1   1 2 1 1   1 3   -4
8 ZAITCEV, VIACHESLAV DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 VIALTSEV, EGOR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11 JEREBKO, JONAS 20:06 4 1/1   2/2   6 6 2   1     3 2 10
12 MONIA, SERGEY 14:01   0/1     1 2 3     1     5   -4
13 GILL, ANTHONY 19:54 6 2/3 0/2 2/2 2 5 7 3   1 1 1 4 1 9
24 JOVIC, STEFAN 26:53 25 4/4 5/6 2/2 1 2 3 1 2 3     1 3 29
40 EVANS, JEREMY 22:59 10 5/7 0/1   1 2 3       1     1 12
45 BERTANS, DAIRIS 8:20     0/1                   3   -4
Team           1   1     1          
Totals 200:00 83 18/35 12/23 11/11 9 24 33 18 6 18 2 2 25 16 85
        51.4% 52.2% 100%
Head coach: KURTINAITIS, RIMAS
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
Zalgiris Kaunas
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 WALKUP, THOMAS 28:31 10 2/6 1/2 3/5 1 3 4 6 1 1     3 3 13
1 RIVERS, KC 21:18 9 3/3 1/6     1 1 3 1 3     4   2
4 LEKAVICIUS, LUKAS 13:00 7 2/2 1/1     2 2     1     2 1 7
10 HAYES-DAVIS, NIGEL 22:12 5 0/1 1/6 2/2 1   1 1     1   1 3 4
12 VENSKUS, ERIKAS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 JANKUNAS, PAULIUS 11:43   0/1 0/1   1 4 5 2   2   1 1   1
16 LUKOSIUNAS, KAROLIS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 MILAKNIS, ARTURAS 30:01 5 1/1 1/3     2 2 1   1       2 7
23 GEBEN, MARTINAS 5:03   0/1             1       1   -1
32 LEDAY, ZACH 17:02 8 2/6 0/1 4/4 1 2 3 2 3 1     1 7 16
34 LANDALE, JOCK 29:07 24 7/11   10/12 3 2 5 3 2 2   1 2 7 30
92 ULANOVAS, EDGARAS 22:03 6 2/3 0/1 2/2   1 1 1 2   1   1 2 10
Team             1 1               1
Totals 200:00 74 19/35 5/21 21/25 7 18 25 19 10 11 2 2 16 25 90
        54.3% 23.8% 84%
Head coach: JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS

Head Coaches

KURTINAITIS, RIMAS
Khimki Moscow Region

"We played much better defense today and fought better than in our last game. I think that was the key to this victory, our defense. For sure, we were scared before the game about our energy, but our energy was not bad. Keeping the energy was the most important thing in a double week. You must save energy for your home game. We were watching videos yesterday and worked on our defense, because I didn't think it was smart to practice yesterday. We got back from Athens at night. I think we prepared our team well before the game and this result is good for us."

"We did a great job on defense tonight, a great job on the rebounds, and that helped our offense."

JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
Zalgiris Kaunas
"Congratulations to Khimki and Rimas [Kurtinaitis]. We played a little bit better and had our chances. We clearly did not take advantage of them. On the road, playing against a more talented team, when you have chances you have to take them, or you are going to lose. So we lost. I think there was a moment in the fourth quarter when we didn't get our defensive tactics up. Shved had two easy three-point shots, we missed incredible amounts of open shots. When you miss 16 three-point shots, probbaly 12 of them open, it is very simple."

Players

JOVIC, STEFAN
Khimki Moscow Region
"Zalgiris played tough for 40 minutes and are a tough team. We showed very good energy on defense, and defense was the big key. The most important thing was to show better energy and to be focused for 40 minutes. Two days ago, we allowed nine points in one minute and lost the game. This is the first thing that we talked about this morning while we were preparing for tonight. It is a big win for us."
EVANS, JEREMY
Khimki Moscow Region
"We made it hard on ourselves and had to just keep playing defense and get some stops. They do the same thing [playing two games in 48 hours]. We have to come out, do what we love to do and keep playing – we have another game in the next couple of days. We have to come out and be ready."
WALKUP, THOMAS
Zalgiris Kaunas
"Our game plan was working in the first half. Even from that, we had quite a few slip-ups in the first half. We have to be better at executing our game plan and that is a lot of what basketball is - executing. The good teams execute plays by making shots, and part of the execution is the defensive game plan. I think that during this losing streak, we haven't been great at executing our defensive game plan. There is not a lack of belief here in this club. We believe in each other, we believe in the coaching staff and the coaching staff believes in us. It is apparent that the fans believe in us, too, which is what makes this club so special. It is something that we have to do - dig deeper and make it happen."