Zalgiris gets shut in Barcelona 7
FC Barcelona remained atop the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season standings after beating Zalgiris Kaunas 86-62 at Palau Blaugrana on Thursday. Barcelona improved to 18-7 and registered its seventh win in the last eight games. Zalgiris dropped to 13-11.
Nigel Hayes and Thomas Walkup each hit a triple and Joffrey Lauvergne added a floater for an early 7-8 Zalgiris lead. Arturas Milaknis followed a layup with a three-pointer, but Nikola Mirotic and Pierre Oriola gave Barcelona a 14-13 edge. Cory Higgins took over with a coast-to-coast layup and a dunk, but Milaknis struck again from downtown and Martinas Geben dunked to tie the score, 20-20. After Higgins hit a mid-range jumper, Marius Grigonis and Augustine Rubit gace Zalgiris a 22-24 edge. Brandon Davies scored down low to tie it again, 24-24, after 10 minutes.
Leo Bolmaro found his first points early in the second quarter and Kyle Kuric capped a 7-0 run with a triple. Davies swished a jumper, but Hayes brought the visitors within 31-28. Rolands Smits stepped up with a tip-in, Mirotic added a put-back basket, Higgins erased Grigonis’s floater with a driving layup and Nick Calathes prompted Zalgiris to call timeout at 39-30. Grigonis and Lauvergne stepped up for Zalgiris, but Alex Abrines struck from beyond the arc and Higgins added a jumper for a 46-34 Barcelona lead. Paulius Jankunas took over with a three-point play but Higgins scored again to fix the halftime score at 48-37.
Mirotic buried a corner triple right after the break and fed Oriola for a layup that caused Zalgiris to stop the game at 53-37. Calathes scored in penetration, Smits added a layup and Davies hit a couple of jumpers that broke the game open, 61-41. Davies got help from Adam Hanga and Bolmaro to boost the lead to 71-47 after 30 minutes.
Oriola hit back-to-back jumpers early in the fourth quarter and soon added a floater that sealed the outcome, 77-49, with over 7 minutes left. Oriola and Bolmaro kept pushing Barcelona and even though Zalgiris never gave up, the hosts stayed out of trouble until the final buzzer.
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