Excited Keenan Evans on return to EuroLeague: 'I missed this feeling' / News - Basketnews.com

After making his EuroLeague return from the Achilles injury, Keenan Evans admitted he missed the intensity and energy from the crowd, and although he's happy with his performance he still wants to improve on the defensive end.

Credit: zalgiris.lt Credit zalgiris.lt

After missing 9 months of EuroLeague action due to an Achilles injury, Zalgiris Kaunas guard Keenan Evans made his return.

Player of the Game EFF 20 Keenan Evans Points 25 Accuracy 9-15 Rebounds 4 Assists 0

And it looked like the 27-year-old didn't have any major injury. In an 82-79 away win against Virtus Segafredo Bologna, Evans finished the game with 25 points (5/9 2PT, 4/6 3PT, 3/4 FT), 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 turnovers, and 20 PIR.

"I'm excited to be back, I'm excited to get the first win," Evans told BasketNews journalist Lukas Malinauskas after the game. "But I still got a sick feeling in my stomach because I know we can be a better team, and I can be a better player. Stupid turnovers, dumb fouls, but I'm just happy we got the win."

"It was a hard-fought win. I missed this feeling of 40 minutes of basically hell. The intensity of the crowd, the energy… I missed it. It was a fight all the way till the end, there were some ups and downs, but I'm just happy we stayed together," Evans added.

Evans also scored 9 out of the last 12 Zalgiris points, so it seems that the confidence for clutch moments is also still out there.

"Confidence is something you don't want to lose. You always have to believe in yourself, and my teammates believe in me by putting the ball in my hands. These moments are huge."

So, what were Evans' thoughts before the game, and did he himself expect such a performance?

"I always expect to go and do my best no matter what game it is, but Tutty (Tautvydas Sabonis, Zalgiris coach) came up to me before the game and was just like, 'It starts on the defensive end, shots will fall.' So, that's my main focus.

People look at the points, and points is amazing, but I feel there's still some stuff I can clean up on the defensive end. More pressure, more steals, and in the next game, I actually want to get some assists. It's hard with certain matchups, I'm glad this was a comeback game. I want this, hopefully, to be a low point of the season. I just build off this, but you never know. All that matters is the comeback win.

It was an even more special win for Zalgiris, knowing that the Lithuanian powerhouse managed to bounce back and win the game despite being down by 15 points twice.

"Everybody just staying together, playing together, and believing in each other," Evans named the reasons for the comeback. "We know how the EuroLeague and basketball in general is – it's a game of runs. We just gotta play until the very end."

Subscribe to BN+ and get access to exclusive content.