This is a very entertaining matchup between Barcelona and Zalgiris Kaunas at Palau Blaugrana Arena, in Barcelona. Barcelona against Zalgiris is the match with big interest after their previous match at Euroleague. Review our thoughts on this match here below.
Barcelona
Currently, Barcelona is in the playoffs picture placed at 5th seed (12-9). Barca is coming up after a huge win against Olympiacos and it looks like they are about to keep winning. Barcelona’s leaders are Thomas Huertel (11.1ppg, 4.6ass), Ante Tomic (9.1ppg, 4.5rpg) and Kevin Seraphin (8.9ppg, 3.9rpg). Lately, Barcelona’s point guard Kevin Pangos is on a role, dishing passes like crazy. His season assist average is 3.5, but last 2 games he has made 8 and 9 assists, being very efficient for Barcelona’s offense. Thomas Huertel is struggling lately with low-efficiency rating (season avg: 12PIR; last 3 games avg: 4,6PIR). At home, Barcelona is feeling good, usually winning games (7-3).
Zalgiris Kaunas
Currently, Zalgiris is in the 13th seed of the regular season standings (8-13). Kaunas is playing terrible basketball lately and out of their last 7 games, they have lost 6 of them. Zalgiris is looking to get out of that slump in this game against Barcelona. Zalgiris’s leaders are Brandon Davies (14.3ppg, 5.7rpg, 2ass), Nate Walters (12,1ppg, 4.5ass, 3.1rpg) and Aaron White (8.7ppg, 4.5rpg). Marius Grigonis is hot last few games. By hitting clutch three-pointers and assisting for his teammates he’s become a huge offensive threat for the opponents. Good news for Zalgiris is that their point guard Leo Westermann is back in the lineup. He is an important piece for Zalgiris offense, maintains to Sarunas Jasikevicius directions, can score and assist. Zalgiris Kaunas is struggling in road games (4-6).
H2H
This is the 2nd meeting of the season for these teams. Last game was very tough and went to overtime. Barcelona came up victorious 85-88. The leaders of this game for Zalgiris were Aaron White (21pts, 8rebs), Nate Wolters (19pts, 6ass) and Brandon Davies (12pts, 4 rebs). Barcelona’s leaders: Kyle Kuric (15pts), Ante Tomic (14pts, 5rebs, 3ass), Jaka Blazic and Thomas Huertel (11pts each). We will see some familiar faces in this match. Former Zalgiris Kaunas player Kevin Pangos is playing for Barcelona this season. Last game he led his team in overtime hitting a clutch three-pointer and making a couple decisive defensive plays. This is going to be a very interesting, physical game. Both teams have something to prove and will go at each other like it’s their last game.