Artūrs Kurucs (in the middle) Photo: “Baskonia”
Artūrs Kurucs was left without a point in Milan in the loss of Vitoria’s “Bitci Baskonia” to ULEB Euroleague on Thursday, while Jānis Strēlnieks could not play in the victory of Kaunas “Žalgiris” due to injury. The Vitoria club was forced to recognize the superiority of the AX Armani Exchange Olimpia in Milan, with the Italian club celebrating its success with 89:78 (21:10, 19:15, 26:23, 23:30).
Kurucs spent nine minutes and 48 seconds on the court, during which he did not throw the basket, intercepted the ball once, earned three personal notes and ended the game with an efficiency ratio of -2. Matthew Costello was the top scorer with 23 points, while Devon Hall scored 15 points.
“Monaco” was forced to recognize the superiority of Kaunas “Žalgiris” playing in its field without the Rifleman with 82:83 (23:18, 23:18, 18:25, 18:22). The Latvian player went to the Euroleague battlefield on February 1 after the injury treatment, but the consequences of the injury were still felt, and the Latvian remained out of the application in the next club games. Nils Gifijs got 15 points for the guests, Artūrs Milaknis got 14 points and Joffrey Loverņš got 13 points. Dwayne Bacon and Mike James scored 18 points.
“Barcelona”, represented by Roland Šmita, is second with 19 wins in 24 matches, Artūrs Kurucs team Vitorija “Bitci Baskonia” with a balance of 7-17 is in 16th place, but “Žalgiris” with four wins in 23 matches is in last place. Also this season, ten countries with 18 teams are represented in the Euroleague, which is the same as in the previous season. The teams will play in a two-lap tournament, with the top eight entering the playoffs. The Euroleague champion will be determined in Berlin, where the final four tournament will take place. Last season, the champion was Istanbul’s “Anadolu Efes”, which defeated “Barcelona” in the final.
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