basketball | Wednesday, May 3, 2023 1:40 PM (Revised at: Wednesday, May 3, 2023 1:41 PM)

Zalgiris Kaunas vs Barcelona Best Bet: Greens Bounce Back

Aleksa Drobnjak

Zalgiris Kaunas vs Barcelona Best Bet: Wednesday, May 3rd

The series between the Spanish and Lithuanian powerhouses will have its next chapter tonight in the Zalgirio arena. The series is moving to Lithuania where the Greens will try to take away at least one game against Barca. Sarunas Jasikevicious is returning to Zalgirio arena for a playoff game for the first time since he left.

In this article:

Zalgiris vs Barcelona Preview
Zalgiris vs Barcelona Best Bet

Zalgiris vs Barcelona Preview

Thu, Apr 26th. 18:00 (UK time)

Even before the first games, we knew that Zalgiris did not have a lot of chances against Barca. The series is moving in an expected direction, but this game will probably be the most interesting since Zalgiris is much stronger at home. The top 8 was a great achievement for the Lithuanian side as they have been plagued by injuries throughout the whole season. For tonight’s game, they will be missing K. Evans due to an Achilles Tendon injury while L. Lekavicius is out due to a foot injury.

Coach Maksvytis is not able to find an offensive rhythm as Zalgiris is averaging only 70 points per game against Barca in the series. Their shooting splits are 51% from the field and 39% from behind the arc in Zalgirio arena which is a lot higher than on the road. We are expecting Zalgiris to finally make a push and clinch a game against Barcelona.

Barcelona are the heavily favoured side in this matchup, with the correct approach from the team and Jasikevicious, they managed to win the first two games and now they’re sitting on a comfortable 2-0 score with the first Match point tonight. Barca are scoring 90 points per game in the first two games, with over 40% from behind the arc. This is a battle of the two slowest-paced teams in the league, and we believe tonight’s game will bring us more defence for which both of them are known.

Barcelona will not be missing anyone due to injuries tonight.

The moneyline suggests that the Spanish side is a clear favourite once again, but we don’t see this series 3-0. Zalgiris has enough quality and a very hot home court, so we will be exploiting the spread which seems very high in our eyes.

Zalgiris vs Barcelona Best Bet

Zalgiris have won the last two games against Barcelona in the Zalgirio arena. The tickets have been sold out and we are sure home fans will make an unbelievable atmosphere since it is their elimination game. We are taking Zalgiris to extend their season tonight and beat the spread in the first place, but the moneyline winner seems reasonable as well.