Ten minutes of good basketball were enough for Zalgiris Kaunas to get their seventh LKL win in as many games, this time around by 102-77 (27-25, 22-6, 25-17, 28-29) against Nevezis, who dropped to 1-4.
The Lithuanian champs, who are struggling in the EuroLeague (0-5), had five players in double digits, with Tyler Cavanaugh leading all scorers with 19 points. Rihards Kuksiks stood out for Nevezis in a losing effort.
Everything was decided in the second quarter, when Zalgiris locked down their visitors to six points (22-6), cruising to a very comfortable victory from that point on.
Zalgiris managed to build a slight edge (27-19) in the first nine minutes, thanks to their excellent percentages (9 of 14 from the field) and Mantas Kalinietis's productivity (8 points).
At the same, time, Kuksics was impeccable (4 of 4 field goals), but Nevezis were unable to hold down their opponents on the scoreboard. Nevezis instigated a comeback in the last minute of the first quarter, cutting down the margin to just two (27-25) behind a 0-6 run. However, the visitors' resistance was short-lived.
Zalgiris strengthened their defense and went on a 17-2 partial score to take an 18-point lead (47-29) and close the first half up 49-31.
Six consecutive free throws by Blazevic increased Zalgiris's lead to 20 (59-39). After an excellent offensive display in the first period, Nevezis were pinned down to only 23 points in the next two quarters.
Cavanaugh and Lukosiunas improved their scoring tally and the team coached by Jure Zdovc boosted its morale ahead of the EuroLeague double-week.
Zalgiris Kaunas: Cavanaugh 19 (6/9 FGS, 6 REB), Blazevic 14 (9 REB, 4 TO), Lukosiunas 16 (6/11 FGS), Kalnietis 11 (12 AST), Ulanovas 10, Lekavicius 9.
Nevezis: Kuksiks 16 (6/11 FGS), Valinskas 14 (6/9 FGS), Lavrinovicius 9.
