Zalgiris lose to ALBA, recording their worst start in EuroLeague history / News - Basketnews.com

Credit BasketNews/D.Repečka

Zalgiris Kaunas (0-8) welcomed ALBA Berlin (3-5) in hopes of bringing their home crowd the first Turkish Airlines EuroLeague of the season. However, they came up short again, losing 71-79(10-22, 27-19, 15-21, 19-17). This is Zalgiris' worst start in EuroLeague history.

Player of the Game EFF 23 Luke Sikma Points 10 Accuracy 4-5 Rebounds 6 Assists 4

A 3-pointer by Arturas Milaknis cut Zalgiris' deficit to six (58-64). However, ALBA answered with five straight points, putting the hosts away and winning by eight.

The hosts were sloppy to start the game, and two straight buckets by Ben Lammers gave ALBA a 19-6 lead. Zalgiris were down by 11 in the middle of the second quarter (21-32), but nine straight points by Tyler Cavanaugh brought Zalgiris within four to end the half (37-41).

Both teams went back and forth in the third period, but a 7-0 run helped ALBA regain a double-digit lead (54-43). They were up by 10 going into the fourth (62-52).

Luke Sikma recorded another all-around performance for ALBA. He had 10 points (3/3 2PT, 1/2 3PT, 1/1 FT), 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 1 turnover, and 23 PIR.

"We did a way better job defensive rebounding," Sikma said post-game. "We were able to neutralize Nebo a little – he's an animal on the glass so I think it was a good team effort. Guys made big plays, big shots, they made a run but we didn’t hang our heads. We kept pushing and it’s a really good win on the road."

Tyler Cavanaugh was a pleasant surprise for Zalgiris, finishing with 17 points (5/7 2PT, 2/5 3PT, 1/1 FT), 6 rebounds, 1 assist, a steal, 2 turnovers, and 14 PIR.

"You can see how modern teams should look," Zalgiris coach Jure Zdovc said about ALBA after the game. "They’re too good for us, too quick. Even when we defend they jump on us, they make offensive rebounds, they score from the second action every time, this is killing us. We were too naive, too slow. Congratulations to ALBA, they deserved to win."

ALBA: Marcus Eriksson 16, Oscar da Silva 15, Luke Sikma 10 (6 REB), Ben Lammers 10, Maodo Lo 9 (6 AST).

Zalgiris: Tyler Cavanaugh 17 (6 REB), Janis Strelnieks 16, Lukas Lekavicius 11, Josh Nebo 8 (6 REB), Mantas Kalnietis 7.

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