2013-14Top 16Round 14
April 11, 2014 CET: 18:45
Local time: 19:45 ZALGIRIS ARENA

Dentmon sets Euroleague record in Zalgiris's big win

Zalgiris Kaunas finished its 2013-14 Turkish Airlines Euroleague in outstanding fashion by downing Real Madrid 87-80 at home in Group F on Friday. Zalgiris finished Group F with a 2-12 record. Real Madrid was second at 9-3 and will face defending champion Olympiacos Piraeus in the playoffs – a rematch of last season's final. Justin Dentmon paced the winners with 36 points on 7-of-11 three-point shooting. Dentmon broke an all-time Euroleague record for most three-pointers in a season with 74. The previous record belonged to Terrell McIntyre, who fired in 71 three-point shots with Montepaschi Siena in 2007-08. It was this season's second-best scoring night - Andres Nocioni had 37 against FC Barcelona the night before and a new club record for Zalgiris. Martynas Pocius added 10 for Zalgiris. Sergio Llull led Madrid with 23 points, while Ioannis Bourousis and Sergio Rodriguez each added 13. Madrid had a strong start and consecutive baskets by Llull gave the guests a 7-14 lead. Dentmon and Mindaugas Kupsas helped Zalgiris tie the game at 18-18 after 10 minutes. A three-pointer by Dentmon gave Zalgiris a 31-26 edge, but Dani Diez and Sergio Rodriguez led Madrid to regain the lead, 36-38, at halftime. Madrid still led 57-59 at the end of the third quarter, but Dentmon had 13 points in the final seven minutes to ensure Zalgiris grabbed a big home win.

First quarter: Dentmon shines, keeps Zalgiris in the game

Paulius Jankunas got Zalgiris going with a turnaround jumper, which Ioannis Bourousis matched with a jump hook. Dentmon sank a six-meter jumper that Rudy Fernandez bettered with a rainbow triple for a 4-5 Madrid lead. Nikola Mirotic shined with a wild fast break layup, before Dentmon and Bourousis struck from downtown. An off-balance jumper by Sergio Llull caused Zalgiris to call timeout at 7-12. A block by Mirotic allowed Llull to score again, as Zalgiris kept missing open shots. The hosts missed 4 shots and committed 3 turnovers until Marty Pocius stepped up with a layup. Dentmon found Mindaugas Kupsas for a two-handed slam that ignited the crowd at 11-14. Llull kept pacing Madrid with a driving layup that Dentmon erased with a mid-range jumper. Marcus Slaughter shined with an alley-oop layup, but an off-balance basket by Kupsas and a triple by Dentmon tied it at 18-18 after 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Diez helps Los Blancos to slim lead

Arturas Gudaitis and Slaughter traded layups early in the second quarter and Tomas Dimsa soon restored a 22-20 Zalgiris lead. Felipe Reyes took over with a three-point play, as Madrid tried twin point guards with Sergio Rodriguez and Dontaye Draper together on court. Arturas Milaknis downed a three-pointer, but Rodriguez quickly answered from downtown for a 25-26 Madrid edge. Robertas Javtokas shined with a layup-plus-foul and Dentmon downed a triple in transition to boost Zalgiris's lead to 31-26. Rodriguez scored in penetration and followed Dani Diez's free throw with his second three-pointer to put Madrid back ahead, 31-32. Pocius rescued Zalgiris with a fast break layu,p but Diez followed a triple with a backdoor layup for a 33-37 Madrid lead. Pocius downed a three-pointer, but and a free throw by Draper gave Madrid a 36-38 edge at halftime.

Third quarter: Dentmon breaks Euroleague record!

Dentmon struck from downtown to put Zalgiris back ahead, 39-38, right after the break. Llull stepped up with a fast break layup and an off-balance three-point play by Bourousis gave Madrid a 39-43 margin. Pocius finished a two-chance Zalgiris offense with a driving layup and a fade-away jumper by Jankunas tied it at 43-43. Bourousis took over with a dunk-and-foul that Milaknis erased with a corner triple. Dentmon scored again, but Llull answered with another driving layup. Tadas Klimavicius beat the shot-clock buzzer with a turnaround jumper to put Zalgiris back ahead, 50-48. Bourousis made free throws and Rodriguez found Llull for a three-pointer which gave Madrid a 3-point edge. Kupsas banked in a jump hook, but Fernandez made free throws and Llull dunked off a steal before Zalgiris called timeout at 52-57. Dentmon hit his fifth three from downtown, breaking the all-time record for most three-pointers in a Euroleague season. Free throws by Reyes and Dentmon fixed the score at 57-59 through three quarters.

Fourth quarter: Dentmon stays on fire, Zalgiris wins!

Vytenis Lipkevicius shined with a wild reverse layup early in the fourth quarter. Madrid kept struggling to score and a three-pointer by Dimsa sent the crowd to their feet at 62-59. The guests were held scoreless for more than three minutes and another triple by Dentmon forced head coach Pablo Laso to call timeout at 65-59. Javtokas ignited the crowd with a slam, Draper connected from downtown and Pocius gave Zalgiris a 6-point lead with under six minutes left. Llull hit a step-back jumper that Dentmon bettered with 3 free throws. Reyes made foul shots, but he didn't find much help around. Meanwhile, a three-point play by Javtokas seemed to seal the outcome, 74-66, with three minutes left. Dentmon took over with a driving layup and soon added free throws that allowed Zalgiris to start celebrating at 78-68. Madrid kept trying, but Zalgiris had finished its Euroleague season in the best way possible.

Justin Dentmon - Zalgiris Kaunas - EB13
Friday, April 11, 2014
Euroleague.net
Referees: ROCHA, FERNANDO; TAURINO, PAOLO; VOJINOVIC, MILIJA
Attendance: 8345 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas18182130
Real Madrid18202121
End of Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas18365787
Real Madrid18385980
Zalgiris Kaunas
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 GUDAITIS, ARTURAS 2:52 2 1/2                         1
7 POCIUS, MARTYNAS 24:25 10 3/3 1/3 1/2   2 2 1 1 2     5 2 6
10 LIPKEVICIUS, VYTENIS 23:08 2 1/1     1   1 3   3     2 1 2
12 KLIMAVICIUS, TADAS 9:00 4 2/2       2 2     1         5
13 JANKUNAS, PAULIUS 28:08 8 3/6 0/2 2/2 2 5 7 2   1   1 1 3 12
15 JAVTOKAS, ROBERTAS 28:34 8 3/4 0/1 2/2 1 5 6 3 1 2 1   4 4 15
21 MILAKNIS, ARTURAS 24:48 6   2/4         1   2     3    
22 KUPSAS, MINDAUGAS 11:26 6 3/4   0/1   3 3 1   1     1 2 8
23 DIMSA, TOMAS 16:34 5 1/1 1/1   1 3 4 1   1     4 2 7
55 DENTMON, JUSTIN 31:05 36 4/5 7/11 7/7   5 5 3 2 6   1 1 7 40
Team             2 2               2
Totals 200:00 87 21/28 11/22 12/14 5 27 32 15 4 19 1 2 21 21 98
        75% 50% 85.7%
Head coach: KRAPIKAS, GINTARAS
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
Real Madrid
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 DRAPER, DONTAYE 21:50 4   1/2 1/2   1 1 3 1 1     2 1 5
5 FERNANDEZ, RUDY 18:12 5 0/2 1/4 2/2   2 2 3 2 1     2 3 7
9 REYES, FELIPE 19:18 7 1/3 0/1 5/5 2 1 3     1     3 5 8
11 DIEZ, DANIEL 12:11 6 1/2 1/1 1/2       1         2 1 4
12 MIROTIC, NIKOLA 22:57 2 1/5 0/1     2 2 2 1   2   3 2 3
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 24:08 13 3/9 2/4 1/2   1 1 5 2 3     3 2 8
21 DARDEN, TREMMELL 13:58 3 1/3 0/1 1/2   2 2 1           1 3
23 LLULL, SERGIO 30:09 23 7/9 3/5   1   1 2 2       1 2 25
30 BOUROUSIS, IOANNIS 18:17 13 3/6 1/1 4/4 2 2 4 1   1   1 1 4 16
44 SLAUGHTER, MARCUS 13:29 4 2/2       3 3     1     4   2
50 MEJRI, SALAH 5:31                 1           1
Team           2   2               2
Totals 200:00 80 19/41 9/20 15/19 7 14 21 18 9 8 2 1 21 21 84
        46.3% 45% 78.9%
Head coach: LASO, PABLO

Head Coaches

KRAPIKAS, GINTARAS
Zalgiris Kaunas
"I do not want to comment on the statistics of the game. I have just said to my team that 10 000 fans in the arena shouted “Thank you“ to us. It was an amazing atmosphere. Players were affected by the losses in the Top 16. Today everything changed. I would like to say that this victory was reached not only by me. A big part of the work was done by previous coach Saulius Stombergas too. I should also say only the best words about Justin Dentmon. He achieved the record in three-pointers made during a Euroleague season and his index rating of the game was 40."
LASO, PABLO
Real Madrid
"I would like to congratulate Zalgiris with the victory. They understood how to play this game from the beginning. Zalgiris played very tough today. They made a couple of important shots in the second half and it helped them to grab a victory. We were unable to play as a team today. I assume the responsibility too. We have to forget this loss because the Top 16 is over and the most important games are waiting ahead. There will be the eight best teams in Europe. We must play as a team to reach the Final Four. "

Players

DENTMON, JUSTIN
Zalgiris Kaunas
"I am feeling really good after this victory. This moment is what we need going into the Lithuanian League playoffs. I scored a lot of points today, but at the moment victory means more for me. Real Madrid is a good team and today we won and it means a lot for us. I think it was the game where I scored the most points in all my career. It was big game for me."
LLULL, SERGIO
Real Madrid
"It was very bad game for us. We started really weak and in the end Zalgiris had more accuracy, so they reached this victory. Today we were not aggressive in defense and because of that we could not play our game. Today Justin Dentmon had his best game. He is great scorer and we didn’t stop him tonight."
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