Lietuvos Rytas had a near-perfect game in the
third meeting against Khimki in the VTB League quarterfinal series, taking a
surprisingly convincing 103-78 (29-20, 22-11, 28-29, 24-18) victory on the road in Russia on Saturday evening.
Renaldas Seibutis and Jonas Valanciunas were
unstoppable, as the Lithuanian team recorded the second victory against Khimki to
book a ticket to the VTB League Final Four, where they will meet CSKA Moscow.
The visitors took the reins of the game from
the get-go, behind inspirational play by Seibutis, who collected 19 points in
the first half alone.
Khimki had no solutions to the fast-paced and
high-intensity game offered by Lietuvos Rytas. The Russians fell behind early
and already had a 20-point deficit at halftime.
Although the head coach of Khimki Rimas
Kurtinaitis started the third quarter with full court pressing, the change of
tactics and intensity didn’t seem to change the way the game was heading, as
Lietuvos Rytas maintained a significant lead.
Renaldas Seibutis finished the game with 24
points, Jonas Valanciunas scored 20 points and 9 rebounds, Lawrence Roberts had
14 points, while Mindaugas Katelynas scored 13 for the Vilnius team.
Only three players reached double-digits for
Khimki, as Egor Vialtsev had a team-high 12 points, while Vitaly Fridzon and
Kresimir Loncar ended the game with 10 points each.
