2012-13Top 16Round 13
March 29, 2013 CET: 18:00
Local time: 18:00 O2 WORLD

Alba Berlin blasts Zalgiris in final home game

In its last home game of the Turkish Airlines Euroleague season, Alba Berlin gave its fans something more to cheer about by crushing visiting Zalgiris Kaunas 77-55 on Friday night at o2 World in the German capital. The win improved Berlin to 3-10 in seventh place of Top 16 Group E, while Zalgirs dropped to 5-8 and sits in sixth place. In a clash of two teams already eliminated from the playoff hunt, Alba made a huge 27-3 run over a span of almost 10 minutes that bridged the first and second quarters and led 41-21 at halftime. The hosts cruised to victory in the second half, led by Deon Thompson who finished with 16 points. Derrick Byars netted 12, while Nihad Djedovic, DaShaun Wood and Ali Traore scored 8 apiece. For the visitors, Ksistof Lavrinovic had 15 points, Mario Delas added 8, while Mindaugas Kuzminskas scored 7 in defeat.

First quarter: 14-0 run puts Alba in control

After Darjus Lavrinovic opened the scoring with a layup, Zalgiris's lead increased to 0-6 with baskets inside from Mario Delas and Mindaugas Kuzminskas. The visitors did not allow any points for four and a half minutes at the start of the game, before a jump shot from Deon Thompson opened Berliners' account. That basket, however, started a big run from Alba as the hosts held Zalgiris scoreless for the final seven minutes of the quarter. Nihad Djedovic hit a jumper and Thompson dunked before Heiko Schaffartzik and Je’Kel Foster each nailed a triple for 14-6 score that stood at the end of the first 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Thompson, barrage of triples open up 24-point lead

Alba’s run continued with Derrick Byars hitting from downtown and Ali Traore scoring from close range at the start of the second quarter, before a fast break layup from Djedovic made it 21-6. Ksistof Lavrinovic hit a three-pointer that ended the visitors’ nine-minute scoring drought, but Thompson strung together 6 straight points, including couple of fast break dunks after his own steals, extending it to 27-9. McGrath and Byars traded three-pointers, before Foster and DaShaun Wood each added a triple for 36-12. Zalgiris cut into the deficit with a layup from Rimantas Kaukenas and a three-pointer from Delas, but Wood nailed another triple, giving Alba 41-21 halftime advantage.

Third quarter: Berliners keep the margin safe

Darjus Lavrinovic made a layup to open the third quarter, and after Traore and Thompson scored for Alba, Oliver Lafayette answered with a triple and a 45-26 advantage. Kuzminskas added a basket-plus-foul to the visitors’ tally, but Zach Morley and Traore each scored from close range, keeping the margin at 20. After a long baseline jumper from Delas, Alba put together a 10-0 run, with two baskets apiece from Djedovic and Byars, and a layup from Yassin Idbihi extended it to 59-31. Before the quarter’s end, Kuzminskas and Ksistof Lavrinovic combined to make 5 of 6 free throws and Byars hit a long jumper, making it 61-36 after three quarters.

Fourth quarter: Hosts march to victory

The fourth quarter scoring started with a fastbreak layup from Vytenis Lipkevicius, and after Thompson hit a jump shot, Ksistof Lavrinovic nailed a three and made a put-back cutting it to 63-45. But Idbihi immediately answered with a triple of his own, and another shot from Thompson made it 70-48. Alba kept the intensity with a driving layup from Wood and a basket-plus-foul from Albert Miralles. After McGrath and Morley traded baskets, Adas Juskevicius made a layup of his own to round out the scoring.

Deon Thompson - Alba Berlin - EB12
Friday, March 29, 2013
Euroleague.net
Referees: PUKL,SASA; PEREZ, MIGUEL ANGEL; KALPAKAS, APOSTOLOS
Attendance: 9111
By Quarter1234
Alba Berlin14272016
Zalgiris Kaunas6151519
End of Quarter1234
Alba Berlin14416177
Zalgiris Kaunas6213655
Alba Berlin
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
6 SCHULTZE, SVEN 6:16               1         3 2  
8 SCHAFFARTZIK, HEIKO 16:07 3   1/2         3         2   3
9 THOMPSON, DEON 21:12 16 8/11     2 2 4 1 3 2     2 1 18
10 FULLE, SEBASTIAN 2:03                              
11 BYARS, DERRICK 17:54 12 3/3 2/3   1 1 2 3 1       1   16
14 DEDOVIC, NIHAD 26:40 8 4/6 0/1     5 5 3   1     2 1 11
19 MIRALLES, ALBERT 22:05 5 2/5   1/1 1 5 6 2   3 2   4 3 8
23 WOOD, DASHAUN 22:18 8 1/5 2/3     3 3 2   2     1   5
24 TRAORE, ALI 15:05 8 4/7       1 1 1     1 1 1   6
25 FOSTER, JEKEL 17:11 6 0/2 2/3     1 1 1 4 1   1 3 1 5
34 IDBIHI, YASSIN 14:54 5 1/4 1/1   1 2 3     1     4    
44 MORLEY, ZACH 18:15 6 2/3 0/1 2/2   2 2 2         4   4
Team           1 1 2     1         1
Totals 200:00 77 25/46 8/14 3/3 6 23 29 19 8 11 3 2 27 8 77
        54.3% 57.1% 100%
Head coach: OBRADOVIC, SASA
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
5 McGRATH, DONNIE 22:48 5 1/4 1/3           1 2       1  
7 LAVRINOVIC, DARJUS 16:06 6 2/5 0/2 2/2 2   2     2 2   2 3 4
8 JUSKEVICIUS, ADAS 19:33 4 2/5 0/1   1   1 2   1   1 1 1 1
10 LIPKEVICIUS, VYTENIS 23:17 2 1/1 0/1 0/2 1 3 4           1 1 3
15 JAVTOKAS, ROBERTAS 14:29 1 0/2   1/2 3 3 6     1     1 3 5
17 DELAS, MARIO 21:41 8 2/4 1/1 1/2   2 2         1 1 1 6
19 KUZMINSKAS, MINDAUGAS 16:43 7 2/4   3/3 1 1 2   1 2       6 12
20 LAFAYETTE, OLIVER 17:12 3 0/1 1/3         3   2     1 2 2
21 KAUKENAS, RIMANTAS 20:27 4 1/5 0/2 2/2   1 1 2 2 1     1 3 4
31 FOOTE, JEFF 9:25   0/4     1 3 4     2   1     -3
33 LAVRINOVIC, KSISTOF 18:19 15 2/4 2/5 5/6 3 2 5     1     1 6 18
Team           5 4 9     3         6
Totals 200:00 55 13/39 5/18 14/19 17 19 36 7 4 17 2 3 9 27 58
        33.3% 27.8% 73.7%
Head coach: PLAZA, JOAN

Head Coaches

OBRADOVIC, SASA
Alba Berlin
"I am very happy that we won our last home game in this Euroleague season. We were able to transfer the good atmosphere, which we had in the team by winning the German cup, to this game from the beginning playing with confidence. It was nice to watch for the fans. I am more satisfied with this win, because in the first round we received in Kaunas one of the worst losses I had in my career. Because of this, the game today had a special meaning for me and I am happy that the players responded to that. We did a good job defensively as a team from the first minute on, limited them to really few points in the first quarter. I hope that we can follow this good way of playing also in the following games."
PLAZA, JOAN
Zalgiris Kaunas
"When we were ahead 6-0, I felt that some of my players expected Alba to show already their white flag. But they did not. Our game was totally different from the one in the first round, which we won by 36 points. It is true that we in that game could count on Popovic, Darden and Jankunas. But that's not the whole story. This loss here in Berlin, which is our biggest loss in the Euroleague season, is a lesson for us, that if we are not giving 100 percent, then we are a quite mediocre team. If we with all the problems around the team do not work with 100 percent concentration, we are easy to beat. Alba missed only one shot in the second quarter. When you play against a team that is scoring almost 100 percent, it is difficult to beat them anyway."

Players

FOSTER, JEKEL
Alba Berlin
"This was a great team win. We played very well together tonight. It was one of those games, where the defense did it for us. We were fortunate that our shots fell today. Now we have one more game in Malaga and we will see what we can get there. But after struggling so long in this Top 16 we gave our fans here in the o2 World at least the chance to say goodbye to this Euroleague season with a smile."
LAVRINOVIC, KSISTOF
Zalgiris Kaunas
"This was a terrible game for us. We started soft and missed a lot of easy shots, even easy ones under the basket. I think some guys expected Alba to play more relaxed and soft after their cup win. But it was exactly the opposite. They came out really strong and scored all their shots."
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