ZALGIRIS KAUNAS (LITHUANIA)

Founded in 1944
Team colors: green and white
Honors: Euroleague (1999), Saporta Cup (1998), Intercontinental Cup (1986), NEBL (1999), Lithuanian National League (1946, 1950, 1952-1955, 1957, 1958, 1991-1999, 2001, 2003-2005, 2007, 2008, 2011-2020), Lithuanian National Cup (1990, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020), Lithuanian Supercup (2012), Baltic Basketball League (2005, 2008, 2010-2012), Baltic Basketball League Cup (2009), USSR championship (1947, 1951, 1985-1987), USSR Cup (1953)
Arena: Zalgirio Arena (capacity – 15552)
Head coach: Martin Schiller
President: Paulius Motiejunas
Official website: zalgiris.lt

Where to watch

LIVE: Match! Igra (20:55, replay at 02:10), Match! Strana (20:55), Match TV (replay at 02:05), EuroLeague TV, matchtv.ru
Text online: EuroLeague website

GAME NOTES

Khimki head coach Rimas Kurtinaitis was a Zalgiris superstar in the 1980s and played the EuroLeague final with the club in 1986.

Zalgiris forward Paulius Jankunas has played his entire professional career with Zalgiris except for the 2009/2010 campaign, which he spent with Khimki. He was a teammate of Vyacheslav Zaytsev that season.

Zalgiris big man Joffrey Lauvergne played at Khimki for the start of the 2014/2015 season, before leaving in February 2015. Khimki went on to win the 7DAYS EuroCup title that season. Lauvergne was a teammate of current Khimki players Egor Vyaltsev and Sergey Monia that season.

Janis Timma and Patricio Garino were teammates and made their EuroLeague debuts with Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz during the 2017/2018 season.

PRE-GAME QUOTES

Rimas Kurtinaitis, Khimki Moscow Region head coach:

“Right now, Zalgiris is on a good wave. This team is playing freely and shows good offensive-minded basketball; they patiently play the ball to the right player, regardless of whether they scored or not, so they often find a free player. This is very good, because in the offense, as I said, they show patience, and also wait for the opponent's mistakes in defense, as a result of which they immediately punish for it. We know their style, they know our style. In the first game, we could not give them a fight, as we did not have a full squad. Now there are also problems, but compared to the beginning of the season, we are in better physical shape and have been training with a full roster for about a month. We remember how tough it is always to play in Kaunas. One of the factors in favor of Zalgiris was their fans, but now this factor is being removed. However, at home, Zalgiris always plays strongly, so for us, it won't be easy”.

Evgeny Voronov, Khimki Moscow Region guard:

“Zalgiris is a good team that plays fast aggressive basketball. They are particularly dangerous at home, but we will do our best and try to win this game. The main thing is to give one hundred percent on the court and show maximum effort”.