Zalgiris Kaunas vs. Maccabi Tel Aviv (Mar 11, 2004)

Zalgiris became the Group G leader by beating Maccabi Tel Aviv 78-70 
in Kaunas on Thursday night. Zalgiris improved to 2-0 and now leads 
the group exclusively, while Maccabi drops to 1-1 and will have to 
avoid future missteps to achieve its biggest goal, the Final Four in 
Tel Aviv. After Arvydas Sabonis received the regular season MVP 
trophy to start the evening, Zalgiris pulled away to victory behind 
14 points from Ed Cota, 13 from Giedrius Gustas and 11 each from 
Dainius Salenga and Sabonis, who notched a double-double with 12 
rebounds. Sarunas Jasikevicius scored 20 points, Nikola Vujcic 15 and 
Anthony Parker 14 with 12 rebounds for Maccabi. It was a bad day at 
work for the guests, who just made 17 of 43 two-pointers and 3 of 9 
threes, and were outrebounded by 43-35. 

Sabonis was awarded the regular season MVP trophy by Euroleague CEO 
Jordi Bertomeu in a pre-game ceremony, but once the game started, the 
story looked different, as Baston dunked on the guest of honor and 
Vujcic added a layup for a 0-4 Maccabi lead. Zalgiris missed its 
first 4 shots, but awoke with a Cota three-pointer from the top of 
the arc. That ignited a 7-0 run highlighted by a Sabonis dunk. Still, 
Maccabi was doing a good defensive job against the Lithuanian legend, 
who faced two-on-one situations whenever he touched the ball on 
offense. Meanwhile, 4 points by Jasikevicius and a coast-to-coast 
dunk by Anthony Parker gave Maccabi back the lead at 9-10. Soon, 
Jasikevicius popped a three-pointer to make it 11-15, but Gustas 
answered from downtown himself, igniting a 7-2 Zalgiris run to an 
18-17 lead after a layup by Mindaugas Timinskas. Maccabi had the 
final word in the opening period on a put-back by Baston near the 
buzzer, good for an 18-19 visitors' lead after 10 minutes. 

Gustas became the go-to guy for Zalgiris early in the second quarter, 
drilling back-to-back triples but earning a huge ovation for diving 
after a loose ball. Zalgiris had its first big lead, 24-19, but
Maccabi fired back, as Jasikevicius drew fouls and made 5 of 5 free 
throws to tie at 24-24. A three-point play by Tanoka Beard prevented 
Maccabi from regaining the lead, then Sabonis returned to the game 
and started producing right away. He fed Arturas Javtokas for an easy 
basket and added another shot of his own for a 31-28 Zalgiris lead. 
Maccabi struggled to score against the hosts' organized defense, 
while entering the foul bonus too early. As such, Salenga, Ainars 
Bagatskis and Timinskas combined for 6 foul shots in a 9-2 in which 
Cota's three-pointer gave Zalgiris a 40-32 lead. Before the half 
could finish, a high-flying dunk by Paulius Jankunas helped the hosts 
to enter the locker room with a 42-34 lead. 

Both teams exchanged missed shots and turnovers after halftime. A 
left-handed floating layup by Bagatskis were the only points scored 
in 3 minutes, extending the Zalgiris lead to 44-34. Parker and Beard 
then held up their respective teams with 4 points each. Zalgiris 
powered the boards and found some second-chance points, enough to 
keep a safe margin at 52-42 after a layup in penetration by Cota. 
Maccabi called timeout, but everything seemed to work for the hosts. 
Maccabi's offense collapsed, while a long distance jumper by Beard, a 
dunk by Sabonis and an acrobatic layup by Cota were good enough to 
give Zalgiris a 58-45 lead after 30 minutes.

To begin the fourth quarter, Zalgiris not only kept but extended its 
lead, to 64-49 with back-to-back jumpers by Gustas. Maccabi tried to 
get back in the game with a three-point play by Deon Thomas and a 
bomb from downtown by Jasikevicius. Sabonis answered with 4 points 
before picking up his fourth foul with more than 6 minutes left. 
Zalgiris didn't back down, however, and back-to-back fast break 
layups by a very active Salenga gave the hosts a 73-56 lead. Maccabi 
needed a miracle to win now, and started trying to reduce the deficit 
to avoid further trouble in possible future tie-breakers. Indeed, 
foul shots by David Bluthental ignited an 2-9 run to make it a 
10-point game at 75-65, after a turnaround jumper by Thomas and a 
three-point play by Gur Shelef. The local fans had already started to 
celebrate, while Maccabi finally lost by 78-70 with a triple by 
Vujcic at the buzzer. 

Arunas Pakula, Kaunas