Zalgiris — CSKA, 30 March 2018

If the Army Men won, they would almost guarantee return to Kaunas for the playoff seriea. But Zalgiris did not want it and took very important win.

Zalgiris Kaunas vs. CSKA: 85-73 (-12)

Zalgiris: Davies (17 + 5 rb), Pangos (15 + 11 as + 2 st + 4 to), Jankunas (13 + 3 rb + 2 as + 2 st + 3 to), Micic (6), Ulanovas (5 + 6 rb + 2 as) – start; Udrih (9 + 3 rb), Sajus (0), Masiulis (DNP), Milaknis (5), White (4), Kavaliauskas (11 + 5 rb + 3 as + 5 pf), Valinskas (0)…

CSKA: De Colo (18 + 2 st), Westermann (5 + 5 as), Vorontsevich (2), Kurbanov (7 + 5 rb), Hines (12 + 2 as) – start; Rudd (6), Fridzon (0), Antonov (2), Rodriguez (6 + 2 as), Clyburn (6 + 2 st), Higgins (6), Hunter (3 + 3 rb + 4 pf)…

Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach:

I would like to congratulate Zalgiris, they were better most of the game and deserved to win. Motivation is a magic thing in sport, and we haven’t found enough motivation for this game. We came back from half-time with a minus six but that was an illusion because we were not defending well. We made a better job defensively in the third quarter and took the lead, but this was the fourth game down the stretch that we couldn’t go to the free throw line, despite the efforts we put on playing on the post, playing aggressive basketball, driving a lot. We need to prepare much better. We wanted to play better for ourselves and our fans, but I have nothing in general to say against my players. We’re looking forward to the last regular season game to close this phase with a better performance and be prepared for the playoffs.