FC Barcelona-Zalgiris Kaunas: Home form continues (89-72)

Barça's third victory in the Euroleague Top 16 came at the Palau Blaugrana as they overcame Zalgiris Kaunas. The game saw the return of former FC Barcelona hero Sarunas Jasikevicius who is now assistant coach with the Lithuanians. Ante Tomic led the way for the home side with 16 points, nine rebounds and 34 points overall. Despite the late withdrawal of Abrines due to illness, Barça were solid in defence and clinical on offense.

Tomic leading from the front

Barça began the game in unbeatable fashion with Xavi Pascual's side gaining an advantage that they were never to relinquish. Precise with their shooting and playing tough in defence, the blaugranes led by an impressive 29-13 at the end of the first period with Jackson and Nachbar scoring two successive three pointers toward the end of the quarter.

The second quarter began with Zalgiris cutting the deficit thanks to successive three pointers of their own. Nachbar replied with a three of his own, but there was no denying that the Lithuanians were dragging themselves back into the contest.

However, Barça came storming back before half-time and at one point they led 45-29. The blaugranes did a good job of stopping Zalgiris' most dangerous player Anderson as he only scored from two free throws in the first half. As such as Barça went into the break with an 18 point advantage with the score stading at 51-33. In spite of the commanding lead, Pascual's side refused to take their foot off the gas in the second half. Tomic continued to dominate on the inside and Nachbar continued to score freely from the outside. Zalgiris briefly rallied, but at the end of the third quarter Barça's lead still stood at a healthy 67-53.

With the game all but decided, the home side relaxed slightly without losing control of the contest. Hezonja and Satoransky stood out in the final quarter for the blaugranes with Xavi Pascual giving some court time to youngsters Hakanson and Sulejmanovic. The victory over Zalgiris means Barça have won three and lost twice in the Top 16 with a tough looking away game to come next week against none other than Real Madrid.