2018-19Regular SeasonRound 10
Zalgiris Kaunas 83
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan 78
November 29, 2018 CET: 19:00
Local time: 20:00 ZALGIRIO ARENA

Zalgiris edges Milan, breaks home-court jinx

Zalgiris Kaunas finally pulled out a close game at home to register its first win at the packed Zalgirio Arena this season by edging visiting AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan 83-78 on Thursday night. Led by big man Brandon Davies, Zalgiris snapped its three-game losing streak and moved to 4-6 for the season, while Milan dropped to 6-4. Davies scored a career-high 27 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with 4 assists. Nate Wolters also shined with 11 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Mike James scored 17 points to go with 7 assists for Milan, while Arturas Gudaitis collected 16 points and 7 rebounds against his former team.

In the early going, Jeff Brooks and James had a three-pointer each for Milan, but Davies and Wolters had two close-range baskets apiece before a three-point play from Marius Grigonis made it 13-11. Milan answered through Andrea Cinciarini and Gudaitis in using a 2-10 run bridging first and second quarter to take an 18-25 lead. Mindaugas Kuzminskas drove for a reverse dunk that made it 22-29, but Edgaras Ulanovas, Davies and Aaron White fueled a big run for the hosts, who scored 18 consecutive points. The hosts went into the break up 40-31. Gudaitis scored repeatedly in the third quarter to get the visitors within 6 before back-to-back triples from Dairis Bertans got Milan all the way back, 53-52. Davies gave the hosts some breathing room with 5 consecutive points, but Kuzminskas hit a three-pointer in the waning seconds of the third to make it 60-58 after 30 minutes. Zalgiris extended the margin again with the play of Antanas Kavaliauskas inside and Milaknis knocking down one from outside for a 69-61 cushion. Kuzminskas had a three-pointer and a dunk in a 0-7 run as the visitors were back within a single point. But Zalgiris never relinquished the lead. Wolters and Ulanovas made it 73-68 and after a pair of baskets from Micov that kept the visitors close, Wolters and Davies scored in the final 40 seconds to seal the deal.

Pivotal performer

Brandon Davies improved his career-high in scoring for the second game in a row. After scoring 23 points against Khimki in Round 9, he bettered it with 27 points on a career-best 11-for-15 two-point shooting against Milan.

The big run

Zalgiris took control of the game with an 18-0 run in the second quarter which turned a 22-29 deficit into 40-29 lead. The hosts never relinquished the lead, even though Milan came within a single point twice in the second half.

Ending streaks

Zalgiris had lost all five games at home before this victory and was on a losing streak after losing three consecutive games by a combined margin of 6 points.

Free throw woes

Milan made just 8 of 16 free throws in the game. Seven different Milan players attempted at least one free throw, and every single one of them missed at least once.

Up next

Both teams will be at home next Thursday in Round 11. Zalgiris will welcome Olympiacos Piraeus in a rematch of their EuroLeague Playoff series from last season, while Milan will host Herbalife Gran Canaria.

Brandon Davies - Zalgiris Kaunas - EB18
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Euroleague.net
Referees: HIERREZUELO, DANIEL; BOLTAUZER, MATEJ; KOLJENSIC, MILOS
Attendance: 13650
By Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas18222023
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan2382720
End of Quarter1234
Zalgiris Kaunas18406083
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan23315878
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 28:53 27 11/15   5/10 3 7 10 4 1   1 2 2 5 35
1 WALTON JR, DERRICK 4:42 2 1/2 0/2         1 1 2         -1
3 WOLTERS, NATE 25:28 11 4/7 1/2   1 6 7 7       1 2   18
7 WALKUP, THOMAS 15:34 7 2/4 1/2   2 3 5 3 1 1     2   10
9 WESTERMANN, LEO 14:50   0/2           6   1     3    
17 BIRUTIS, LAURYNAS 0:09                              
21 MILAKNIS, ARTURAS 22:53 6 0/1 2/3     3 3 2 1 2     2 2 8
30 WHITE, AARON 23:09 7 2/5   3/4   3 3     2   1 2 4 5
31 JOKUBAITIS, ROKAS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
40 GRIGONIS, MARIUS 25:12 7 2/5 0/2 3/3   3 3 2   1     3 3 6
44 KAVALIAUSKAS, ANTANAS 13:48 8 3/4   2/2 1   1 1   1     3 4 9
92 ULANOVAS, EDGARAS 25:22 8 4/6   0/1 1 4 5 1 1 1 1   1 4 15
Team           5   5     2         3
Totals 200:00 83 29/51 4/11 13/20 13 29 42 27 5 13 2 4 20 22 108
        56.9% 36.4% 65%
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
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
00 DELLA VALLE, AMEDEO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
2 JAMES, MIKE 39:52 17 4/8 2/9 3/4 1 3 4 7 2 4   1 4 6 15
5 MICOV, VLADIMIR 35:54 14 4/9 1/4 3/4   4 4 3 1       2 5 16
7 GUDAITIS, ARTURAS 28:23 16 8/12   0/1 4 3 7   3   3   3 2 23
9 BERTANS, DAIRIS 18:39 6   2/3   1 2 3 1 1 1     2 1 8
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB 11:37 3 1/2   1/2 1   1     1 1 1 4 1 -2
19 KUZMINSKAS, MINDAUGAS 18:21 14 4/7 2/4 0/1   1 1 1   1     2 1 8
20 CINCIARINI, ANDREA 11:39 4 2/3   0/2   2 2 2 1 1     1 3 7
32 BROOKS, JEFF 21:39 4 0/1 1/1 1/2 2 2 4 2 1       3 1 7
55 JERRELLS, CURTIS 13:56     0/3         1   1     1   -4
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 78 23/42 8/24 8/16 10 19 29 17 9 9 4 2 22 20 81
        54.8% 33.3% 50%
Head coach: PIANIGIANI, SIMONE

Head Coaches

JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS
Zalgiris Kaunas
"This is the most important. We had to get one at home. It was a little bit of pressure on us to take the first win. Just plugging along in this EuroLeague, picking up some wins and hopefully improving. We need to improve. We are giving up too many easy points every single game. If we can manage to stop those, we can take some steps forward. I think we were fighting, I think we are always fighting. I think in some crucial moments the guys dug deeper and drove the ball and got to the line. It was a man's win."
PIANIGIANI, SIMONE
AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan
"Our second quarter decided the game. We lost the rhythm, the flow for two or three minutes. We are without so many players who can score points and some players are tired after going in this rhythm for many weeks, so it was difficult to recover. We played a good, solid second half. We never gave up. In the end, we missed two layups, two open shots, some free throws, and those details did not give us a chance to win here. To win today we had to play solid for 40 minutes, but we scored 8 points in the second quarter after taking some shots after the first pass instead of moving more and attacking the rim like we did in the third quarter. Also in the fourth, but we missed two or three key possessions. We had only nine players ready, Della Valle is not ready to play, so we needed to be smart and not take hurried shots in the second quarter."

Players

WOLTERS, NATE
Zalgiris Kaunas
"The fans have been great this whole time we haven't been able to get a win. So it feels great to finally get one, and hopefully we can build on this and continue to get more wins here at home. I think in the fourth quarter we just finished the game. This has kind of been our Achilles's heel, all fourth quarters at home we have struggled. It was big to get stops late and finish the game off. We have not won a game at home, so there was a lot of pressure to get one. I think we just played hard. It wasn't our best game, but we were able to win."
DAVIES, BRANDON
Zalgiris Kaunas
"To finally win at home is a great feeling. We battled all game long. They are a really good team, we had to buckle down defensively to get them stopped. But this one is for the fans. They have been unbelievable, they were supporting us even though we had a little losing streak here at home. It made it that much more important to get this one for them. We are happy for them and for us, and hopefully we can build on this and keep it going. I am just playing hard and good things happen when you are playing hard. It is not about the numbers, it is about the win. Everyone that played tonight just gave it their all. This is kind of good luck when you are playing the right way. I don't really remember my dunks tonight, but I remember the free throws I missed. I got to get back to the gym."
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