By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Zack LeDay and Lukas Lekavicius paced Zalgiris to a 96-85 victory against Khimki Moscow Region in Round 27 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague to exceed their winning streak to three games.
LeDay exited the court with 23 points, five rebounds and three assists in his 25-minute presence, leading all Zalgiris scorers. Lekavicius was there to save the day for the hosts in the final three minutes of the game, with a key presence overall (14 points, 4 assists).
KC Rivers added up 15 points for Sarunas Jasikevicius’ squad, while Arturas Milaknis tapped 12 points.
Khimki’s Alexey Shved and Janis Timma put on a show with 24 and 20 points respectively, followed by Jonas Jerebko’s 17-point performance.
Zalgiris stops Khimki’s streak
Zalgiris grabbed a 20-point lead 13 minutes in the game (39-19) to set the mood early on with LeDay leading the Lithuanian side’s effort who held on to a 50-34 lead at halftime. Khimki eventually would turn the tables in the third quarter with Timma leading the visiting side’s effort, as they trimmed the margin to 64-58 after 30 minutes.
Despite Shved’s effort to keep the visiting side onboard for the victory, the home team held on to its slight advantage until the end.
“I think both teams could really not stop one another. I think it’s very difficult to stop Khimki. So fortunately for us, we won the games with offense, which is not great for the coach, but at this point, you take any win and you move on”, commented coach Jasikevicius to EuroLeague TV after the game.
The Lithuanian side put an end to Khimki’s three-game streak, now flirting with the playoffs zone after improving to a 12-15 record, a tie with the Russian side.
Zalgiris faces Zenit on Thursday with hopes to win its fourth in a row, while Khimki will look to bounce back against Fenerbahce on Friday.
Photo: EuroLeague