Zalgiris started the Lithuanian League (LKL)
Finals with a convincing 71-56 (21-11, 16-19, 25-14, 9-12) victory at home in Kaunas on Sunday to take a 1-0
lead in the best-of-five series.
It was the seventh victory in a row for the
club from Kaunas against their biggest rivals, including all four games this
season.
The beginning of the first quarter set the tone
for the rest of the game, as Zalgiris went on a 10-0 run right from the get-go,
with Lietuvos Rytas scoring the first points only halfway through the first
period.
Marko Popovic led the winning effort for the
Greens with 13 points, Paulius Jankunas scored 11, while Robertas Javtokas, who
recorded a double-double with 10 rebounds, and Milovan Rakovic both chipped in
with 10 points each.
For Lietuvos Rytas, Renaldas Seibutis had a
team-high 12 points and Jonas Valanciunas scored 11, but all of them came in
the first half. No other player reached double-digits in scoring, with
Aleksandar Rasic being the closest with eight.
