Betsafe-LKL's fifth game week – the managers love when transfers pay off

The fifth game week of Betsafe-LKL was full of surprises. Together with Scorestars, we are covering what happened in the Lithuanian basketball league.

CBet Jonava started the weekend at the Jonava Sports Arena by facing M Basket-Delamode Mažeikiai. Mihkel Kirves, who this summer moved from the Estonian most successful club BC Kalev Cramo to M Basket-Delamode, was weeks ago transferred again and found a new club in Jonava. Aginst his former club, the Estonian center showed what his ex club was losing by letting him go. Mihkel Kirves made 18 points, took 9 rebounds, made 2 steals and gave 1 block. The standout performance resulted in 29 EFF rating and the fifth round MVP title. Total score 103-83 for CBet Jonava. From the winners side, B. Blyzniuk also gave a great input to the win as he collected 13 points, 7 rebounds and gave 5 assists. The Betsafe-LKL legend, G. Staniulis collected 14 points, 9 rebounds, and an efficiency rating of 24 but for this game it wasn’t enough to grab the first win of the season for his team.

In the second game of the Saturday evening, Šiauliai – Casino Admiral hosted Neptūnas Klaipeda. Šiauliai continued their great performances by winning the thrilling game 108-103. Garry Blakes (25 EFF) and Shaq Buchanan (24 EFF) proved once again to be valuable assets to their team. Saulius Kulvietis (23 EFF) has been a true captain for his team this season and he showed it on Saturday once again. The forward made 17 points, took 7 rebounds, and made 2 steals in 37 minutes on the court. From the Neptūnas team, Tomas Pavelka, had his best (23 EFF) game of this season against his former club.

Another thrilling match of the game week was played in Vilnius as Wolves Twinsbet played against Uniclub Bet – Juventus Utena. After the first half, the score was 34-35 for the guests. After the break, the Wolves couldn’t stop the Juventus duo Laurynas Beliauskas (18 EFF) and Ian Miller (17 EFF). The final score 67-72 which was already the third loss for the hosts this season.

Žalgiris Kaunas vs 7bet-Lietkabelis Panevėžys was the first game of the previous Sunday. The well-known rivals from the previous year’s Citadele KMT final. The game started as a storm. The 7bet-Lietkabelis made 24 points and went to the second quarter by leading the game by 11 points. The second quarter was more even as Žalgiris made great changes in the defence and allowed for the guests to get 9 points less than during the first quarter. The game went to a half time break at a score 30-39 for the Panevėžys side. All Lithuanian basketball enthusiasts followed Žalgiris’ great comeback in the Euroleague last week and they did repeat it in the Betsafe-LKL. Solid performance by Sylvain Francisco (26 EFF) and Laurynas Birutis (20 EFF) saved them from the second loss of the season. Full time score 73-66 for Žalgiris.

The last game of the game week was presented by Nevėžis-Optibet Kėdainiai and Rytas Vilnius. Unfortunately, after the first three quarters, the home side couldn’t keep up the scoring pace with the title holders. Full time 83-93 for Rytas Vilnius. Amit Ebo’s 26 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds resulted in 25 EFF and as he continued his great performances this season. Yet, from the winner side, Savion Flagg had a 23 EFF game and the captain Margiris Normantas contributed with 15 EFF for Rytas’ win.

Results of the 5th week of Betsafe-LKL:

CBet Jonava 103-83 M Basket-Delamode Mažeikiai

Šiauliai – Casino Admiral 108-103 Neptūnas Klaipeda

Wolves Twinsbet 67-72 Uniclub Bet – Juventus Utena

Žalgiris Kaunas 73-66 7bet-Lietkabelis Panevėžys

Nevežis-Optibet Kėdainiai 83-93 Rytas Vilnius

Here‘s how the Betsafe-LKL standings look after the 5th game week:

Neptūnas Klaipėda (5 GP, 4 W, 1 L)

Rytas Vilnius (5 GP, 4 W, 1 L)

Žalgiris Kaunas (5 GP, 4 W, 1 L)

Uniclub Bet – Juventus Utena (5 GP, 3 W, 2 L)

7bet-Lietkabelis Panevėžys (5 GP, 3 W, 2 L)

Šiauliai – Casino Admiral (5 GP, 3 W, 2 L)

Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius (5 GP, 2 W, 3 L)

CBet Jonava (5 GP, 2 W, 3 L)

Nevežis-Optibet Kėdainiai (5 GP, 0 W, 5 L)

M Basket-Delamode Mažeikiai (5 GP, 0 W, 5 L)

Scorestars Dream Team:

This week, the Weekly Dream Team Lineup includes, the MVP of the Betsafe-LKL game week Mihkel Kirves (29 EFF) at center, Savion Flagg (23 EFF) and Saulius Kulvietis (23 EFF) at forward, Garry Blakes (25 EFF) and Sylvain Francisco (26 EFF) at the guard position.

The Betsafe-LKL show goes on! Which players will stay in the weekly dream team or will there be new faces next week? Be a virtual manager, create your team on the Scorestars mobile app and start playing the Betsafe-LKL fantasy game!