By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Fenerbahce Beko finished the EuroLeague regular season as the top defensive team in EuroLeague. And in Game 1 of the playoffs vs. Zalgiris Kaunas, the Turkish team put its biggest weapon to some phenomenal use.
Nikola Kalinic scored 16 points as Fenerbahce beat Zalgiris 76 – 43 to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series. Zeljko Obradovic‘s players actually forced their opponents to a historic offensive low in the modern EuroLeague era. The Lithuanian side’s previous worst was registered in an 80 – 50 loss to Lokomotiv Kuban in 2015.
While Zalgiris, that committed 21 turnovers, suffered to make a basket throughout the whole game, Fenerbahce’s offense ran smoothly enough for the hosts to finish halftime up 38 – 21 and then increase their advantage to 24 points, 59 – 35. The visiting squad was unable to fight back but they’ll have a chance to bounce back in Game 2 held Thursday (18/2).
Only Marius Grigonis (10 points) scored in double figures for Zalgiris. On the winning side, Obradovic found solutions in the faces of Marko Guduric (13 points, four assists), Erick Green (12 points).