By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Tasked to reclaim the domestic league championship, Zalgiris must navigate the rest of Lithuania’s Betsafe LKL Playoffs without Achille Polonara.
Polonara, 31, was injured in Game 1 of the Semifinals best-of-five series opposite 7bet-Lietkabelis. He is unlikely to return to action this season, the team announced Wednesday.
Per the announcement: “Zalgiris Kaunas started the Betsafe-LKL semi-final series with the win, but lost Achille Polonara to injury in the first game of the best-of-five series.
The forward felt pain in his thigh in the second quarter of the game against 7bet-Lietkabelis Panevezys and was unable to continue the game.
After tests, it was revealed that Polonara had a partially torn thigh muscle, which will take a few weeks to heal. This means that he is unlikely to play again this season.
Polonara, who arrived in Kaunas at the beginning of January, was scoring 6.7 points and grabbing 6.2 rebounds per game in the Betsafe-LKL Championship.”
Keenan Evans (Achilles) was ruled out for the remainder of the season back in January. However, the rest of the players are available for head coach Kazys Maksvytis down the stretch of the 2022-23 schedule. Seeking a 2-0 lead, Zalgiris visits Lietkabelis today (17:50 CET). Defending champion Rytas is already up 2-0 against CBet in the other Semifinals matchup.
Besides LKL action, Polonara also registered 4.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.7 steals, and 0.5 blocks blocks per Turkish Airlines EuroLeague game helping the Kaunas outfit reach the Playoffs.
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net