Zalgiris claimed victory at the Palau, defeating Barcelona 81-88. In a disciplined performance by Tomas Masiulis's squad, the Kaunas side dominated the fourth quarter with 33 points to secure the win. Carsen Edwards led the offensive charge with 19 points and 7 assists. Barcelona played well for 30 minutes but faded down the stretch, with Justin Robinson's 20 points proving insufficient.
Zalgiris started strong. With fluid ball movement, the Kaunas squad took early leads (6-12 at the 5-minute mark). In these opening moments, their three-point shooting accuracy, combined with their dominance in the paint (8 rebounds to 3), was noteworthy. For Barcelona, only Justin Robinson was scoring (6 points), thanks to two three-pointers.
Past the midpoint of the first quarter, we saw the debut in Barcelona colors of Tosan Evbuomwan. However, Tomas Masiulis's squad continued to control the pace of the game. Three-pointers from Dustin Selva (6 points) confirmed the 18-23 score at halftime.
At the start of the second quarter, Barcelona responded. The interior battle between Balcerowski and Valanciunas was a true spectacle. The Barcelona center's grit spread to his teammates, who turned the game around. Points from Kevin Punter (5 points) and a three-pointer from Tyrese Martin put the home side up six (31-25 at the 15-minute mark). The 13-2 run by Sekulic's squad seemed to have rattled the Lithuanian team, and their coach called a timeout.
Tomas Masiulis's timeout had the desired effect. Three-pointers from Edwards and Selva, combined with Valanciunas's physical presence (8 points and 6 rebounds), tightened the score. At halftime, 41-39 for Barcelona. It was shaping up to be an entertaining spectacle at the Palau.
Barcelona came out strong after the break. Justin Robinson (14 points) led the Barcelona attack, which came out with more intensity than Kaunas. Barcelona went up by seven (55-48 at the 25-minute mark).
In the final minutes of the third quarter, the constant back-and-forth favored Barcelona, who maintained their lead. The battle between Balcerowski and Valanciunas continued to be entertaining for the crowd. A strong closing run capped by a three-pointer from Darío Brizuela gave Barcelona their largest lead (65-55 at the 30-minute mark). One quarter remained, and Sekulic's squad had built a ten-point cushion.
Kaunas came out electric in the fourth quarter. Tomas Masiulis's squad came out determined to leave everything on the court, and after a three-pointer from Dustin Selva (12 points), they cut it to one (69-68 at the 32-minute mark). We were heading for an exciting finish.
A three-pointer from Ulanovas set off alarms at the Palau. Zalgiris took the lead (72-74) with five minutes remaining. Alexander Sekulic called a timeout to regain control of the game that Barcelona seemed to have lost.
The timeout didn't help. Three-pointers from the Lithuanians extended their run (16-33 in the quarter), and Barcelona had no answer. The Palau fans watched helplessly as their team couldn't mount a comeback and fell to defeat. Final score: Zalgiris 88, Barcelona 81.