Injury-riddled Zalgiris dismantle Siauliai; Lietkabelis top Nevezis in Panevezys

Even with mounting injury woes, Zalgiris avoided any difficulties in their weekend Betsafe LKL clash against Siauliai at home in Kaunas, inscribing one more tick to their win tally.

Guided by the 17-point outburst in 17 minutes by Arturas Milaknis, the hosts eased their way to an 85-67 victory even playing without the sidelined captain Paulius Jankunas and point guard Dee Bost.

The visitors from Siauliai managed to hang close in the opening period after starting the game on a 10-0 run, but that quickly faded away, with Zalgiris turning things around to take a 47-30 lead at the half.

Brandon Davies added 15 points for the winners, while Vasilije Micic chipped in with 12 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 3 steals in just 19 minutes of action, as coach Sarunas Jasiekvicius tried to spread the minutes between his players as evenly as possible.

On loan from Zalgiris, Laurynas Birutis finished the game with a team-high 16 points and 6 rebounds for Siauliai, who dropped to 2-4 in the standings, while fellow youngster Kristupas Zemaitis collected 12 points and 4 assists.

Meanwhile, league leaders Lietkabelis had to put in a little bit more effort to get an 83-69 against Nevezis but not by much, leading by double figures for most of the encounter.

Ksistof Lavrinovic registered his best performance of the season with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals, Gintaras Leonavicius had 12 points, with Lorenzo Williams finishing the game with 10 points and 8 assists next to his name.

For Nevezis, James Woodard scored 14 points, Malcolm Grant dropped 13 points and dished out 4 assists and sharpshooter Justas Tamulis chipped in with 10 points.

The loss was already the fourth setback for the winless Nevezis in the Betsafe LKL, sharing the bottom of the table with Juventus and Vytautas, while Lietkabelis are first with a perfect 7-0 mark. Zalgiris are one step below with a 6-1 record.