Real Madrid suffered an 81-72 defeat against Zalgiris Kaunas in the Euroleague, a contest that stayed tightly balanced until the closing moments. The Lithuanian visitors found a decisive gear late, turning what had been a tight battle into a performance stretch that swung the result in their favor and left Madrid with a narrow but telling setback on their ledger.
The opening stretch saw Real Madrid struggle to find a steady rhythm, picking up only seven points in the first 3.5 minutes. Unovas and Musa led the charge for Zalgiris on offense, while the Lithuanians controlled the pace with five of the host’s initial seven points accounting for their early surge. Conversely, the white team managed a slow first push, with Bosniaks arranging the first thirteen points for the guests and establishing an early scoreboard tension that set the tone for a contested matchup.
Within the early action, a notable statline highlighted that Bryant Dunston had become the EuroLeague’s all-time leading scorer, a milestone reflected in the way the game intensified around the frontcourt battles. Yet the Cape Verdean center also contributed on defense for Real Madrid, adding six points in the opening ten minutes as part of an overall effort to stabilize the team’s inside presence.
Real Madrid’s perimeter players were called upon to respond as Tavares found himself contributing little at the outset, failing to score on his first seven attempts from outside the arc. Zalgiris, meanwhile, enjoyed a more efficient early stretch, and their attack surged ahead on the back of a 10-2 burst that pushed them to a five-point lead at 30-25 as the first quarter gave way to the second.
From time to time the veteran showmanship of Llull and Poirier punctured the momentum, while Yabusele’s basket and Musa’s work helped Real Madrid construct their first meaningful scoring run. The visitors from Kaunas resisted the home crowd’s energy, answering with a 0-7 counterpunch followed by a 7-0 stretch that included a triple from Butkevicius. The ebb and flow of the game produced a balanced rhythm by halftime, with Hezonja rendering timely contributions and Madrid staving off further damage to leave the score at 37-35 in favor of the hosts.
The third period began with a flurry of baskets that kept the scoreline tight. Cornelie and Smith traded blows in rapid succession as both teams aimed to seize momentum, while Hezonja joined the scoring party to help prevent Madrid from slipping away. A spell of roughness around Tavares briefly disrupted Madrid’s offense, yielding a seven-point stretch that included several crucial free throws to keep the scoreboard within reach for a time.
As the game settled into even terms again, the teams traded blows and the advantage shifted with each possession. Madrid trimmed the gap to five as Llull found form again from distance and Poirier supported with effective interior and transition play. The period culminated in a tense stretch where Ulanovas and Evans connected on timely baskets, denying Real Madrid a clean breakout and forcing a tense finish to the match with the guests maintaining the outside parity and resisting the late push from the home side.
Cavanaugh opened the final phase with a pair of three-pointers that underscored his influence early in the quarter, and his accuracy helped Zalgiris widen the gap to near seven points. Madrid, however, was not finished—Llull stepped up from long range again, while Poirier’s contributions on offense helped shelter the White team from what could have become a deeper deficit. The heroics of the Spanish side kept the game in play, but every moment of success was answered by the Lithuanians’ resolve, keeping the distance in check until the closing minutes.
The decisive stretch arrived as Zalgiris found a spark that Madrid could not match. The visitors extended their lead late, and despite a brief Madrid push that threatened to spark a comeback, the Kaunas side managed to maintain a steady margin. A late surge by the home team could not overturn the deficit, and the game concluded with Zalgiris Kaunas prevailing 81-72 on the road, confirming their ability to close out critical moments and secure the win in front of a large crowd at the Zalgirio Arena in Kaunas, Lithuania.
– Data sheet
81 – Zalgiris Kaunas (18+19+19+25): Evans (21), Giedraitis (2), Hayes (0), Smits (7), Ulanovas (17) -top five-, Dimsa (3), Lukosiunas (-), Birutis (4), Cavanaugh (15), Butkevicius (12), Krivas (-).
72 – Real Madrid (21+14+20+17): Williams-Goss (4), Hezonja (17), Cornelie (5), Moses (22), Tavares (8) -five starts- Abalde (1), Sergio Rodríguez (2), Poirier (6), Llull (3), Yabusele (4), Ndiaye (-).
referees: Robert Lottermoser (ALE), Piotr Pastusiak (POL) and Uros Obrknezevic (SRB).
events: The match, corresponding to the fourteenth day of the Euroleague, was played in front of approximately 14,000 spectators at the Zalgirio Arena in Kaunas (Lithuania).