Zalgiris struggles offensively in Kazan 40
In a game that was deadlocked through three quarters, UNICS Kazan dominated the fourth to grab its third consecutive win by downing Zalgiris Kaunas 66-53 at home on Friday. UNICS improved to 10-6 in the standings and is 9-2 in the last 11 games. Meanwhile, Zalgiris dropped to 3-13 and lost another chance to record its first road victory.
Mario Hezonja led the winners with 20 points. Tonye Jekiri and Isaiah Canaan each added 11 while Lorenzo Brown had a career-high 10 assists for UNICS.
Marek Blazevic and Janis Strelnieks led Zalgiris with 9 points apiece.
Edgaras Ulanovas got Zalgiris going with a floater that Jarrell Brantley matched with a power layup while Lorenzo Brown scored in penetration for a 4-2 UNICS lead. John Brown capped UNICS’s 6-0 run with a turnaround jumper before Mantas Kalnietis stepped up with a driving basket and Tyler Cavanaugh struck from downtown for a 6-7 Zalgiris lead. Ulanovas buried a jump hook that Marco Spissu bettered with a bomb from beyond the arc for a 9-9 tie. Jekiri scored in the low post and Canaan matched Blazevic’s jumper with a driving layup, good for a 13-12 UNICS lead after 10 minutes.
Cavanaugh scored down low for the visitors early in the second quarter. Jekiri dunked in response but Blazevic answered him with a layup for a 15-16 Zalgiris edge. O.J. Mayo buried a floater in the lane for UNICS and soon added a three-pointer. Zalgiris tried a smaller lineup with Ulanovas at power forward, but the visitors struggled to score for more than 4 minutes until Strelnieks hit a corner triple. Josh Nebo joined the fun with an alley-oop slam but Hezonja followed a jumper with a layup for a 24-21 UNICS lead. Nebo kept pacing Zalgiris with a put-back dunk that Canaan matched with an inside basket to fix UNICS’s halftime edge at 26-23.
Kalnietis nailed a three-pointer soon after the break and Blazevic scored in transition as Zalgiris seized a 26-28 edge. Hezonja answered with a corner triple to which Jekiri added an inside basket as UNICS now flipped the scoreboard, 32-29. Blazevic boosted the guests with a three-point play and Cavanaugh added a three-pointer, but a red-hot Hezonja struck twice from downtown and Canaan added a coast-to-coast layup to keep UNICS ahead, 40-35. After Hezonja finished a reverse layup, Strelnieks struck for Zalgiris with a bomb from beyond the arc and a layup for another tie, 42-42, after 30 minutes.
Lorenzo Brown hit from the arc to open the fourth quarter and Jekiri dunked to put UNICS up 47-42. Lorenzo Brown kept pacing the hosts with a jumper and an assist for Hezonja’s next three-pointer, making it a double-digit difference, 52-42, with over 6 minutes left. Niels Giffey tried to reignite Zalgiris with a layup but Jekiri’s next one came with a free throw to make it 55-44. Canaan rattled in a three-pointer and added a fastbreak layup off a huge block by Hezonja that sealed the outcome, 60-44. Zalgiris kept trying but UNICS fans were already celebrating another win.
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