Zalgiris survives, edges playoff-bound Maccabi 9

A highly-entertaining clash in which neither team held a lead higher than 7 points saw Zalgiris Kaunas hold off Maccabi Tel Aviv 68-67 on Thursday night.

Zalgiris survived to see another day in a playoffs race, improving to 18-15, while Maccabi dropped to 19-14 but qualified for the playoffs thanks to losing by a margin of just 1 point.

The game came down to the final 21 seconds and Maccabi’s possession. Wade Baldwin took the ball into his hands, ran out the clock then attempted a tough short jumper over stretched hands of Kevarrius Hayes, but only hit the back rim, sending a sold-out Zalgirio Arena into frenzy.

Rolands Smits had 13 points and Isaiah Taylor scored 12 in victory.

Maccabi had five double-digit scorers, with Baldwin and Jarell Martin scoring 12 apiece. Baldwin also had 10 assists. Lorenzo Brown and Josh Nebo each scored 11, and Jake Cohen scored 10 points for Maccabi, which qualified for the playoffs because it cannot lose any possible remaining tiebreaker.

The teams traded blows from the start. Nebo scored 6 quick points as the visitors went up 6-8, and Martin followed with his first triple, but a fastbreak dunk from Smits and a three-pointer from Lukas Lekavicius put the hosts up 17-13. Maccabi scored the last 4 points of the first quarter to tie things ups, then Darrun Hilliard and Martin hit back-to-back threes early in the second to open a 20-23 lead.

A three-point play from Martin and a triple from Brown put Maccabi further ahead, 22-29, but Tomas Dimsa answered with a three-pointer to spark a 7-0 Zalgiris run that tied the game once again. Mre Maccabi three-pointers – one apiece from Martin, Brown and Jake Cohen  – restored the visitors’ lead at 42-45 going into halftime.

An offensive affair turned into a defensive battle in the third quarter. Smits scored twice inside to give the hosts a 48-45 edge. Brown nailed transition triple, but Zalgiris held the visitors to just 7 third-quarter points and took a 56-52 advantage into the final frame.

Cohen’s three-point play helped tie it at 61-61, but Butkevicius and Taylor restored the hosts lead, 65-61, midway through the fourth. Zalgiris was then left without a single basket for more than 4 minutes, during which Nebo and Baldwin put the visitors in front, 65-67. Edgaras Ulanovas tied it with 1:38 to go and there were no more scores other than Taylor splitting free throws with 21 seconds to go, setting up the final Maccabi possession.