By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
The season is entering its last few crucial laps in the Lithuanian League and tension is inevitable, yet what took place in Game 3 between Rytas Vilnius and Lietkabelis is a completely unprecedented incident in the country which is synonymous with basketball.
In the second quarter of the game and with Rytas up by 26 points, a fight broke out between Lietkabelis head coach Nenad Canak and Rytas play-caller Giedrius Zibenas. Canak was ejected prior to the altercation and on his way to the locker room, he approached Rytas president Darius Gudelis who was sitting in the stands, to pick up another fight, as you can see in this video recorded by Marius Milasius of “15min.lt”.
There’s passion in European basketball but this just happened in the @betsafeLKL finals
Lietkabelis coach Nenad Canak gets ejected after pushing Rytas coach Giedrius Zibėnas and then having a fight with Rytas president Darius Gudelispic.twitter.com/Bp8ez6FwUk
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) June 1, 2022
However, what triggered the incident was a moment on the court, when Rytas Butkevicius appeared to have elbowed Dovydas Giedraitis who lay on the floor and the refs decided not to stop the game.
For the record, the game ended 85-63 in Rytas’ favor, giving the team a 2-1 edge in the finals after getting the 88-66 road win in Game 2 and losing Game 1 at home. Game 4 is scheduled for June 4 in Panevezys.
Earlier this week, Zalgiris Kaunas got a 3-0 lead over Siauliai for the third-place series of the 2022 LKL playoffs. The Kaunas side was eliminated from finals contention for the first time in LKL history, as Lietkabelis was the team to punch a ticket with a 3-1 run in the semifinals.