Zalgiris at Juventus
UTENA, Lithuania (Interstat) — Zalgiris will be the visiting team and Juventus the home team Sunday at Utena Arena in Utena, Lithuania. The matchup pits Zalgiris (19-11) against Juventus (5-6).
Majus Bulanovas is a player to watch for Zalgiris. He scored 19 points and grabbed one rebound in Zalgiris’s most recent game, a 101-78 loss at Palangos Olimpas. He played 23 minutes in the Palangos Olimpas loss, 26 minutes against Rytas 2 and 23 minutes at BC Olimpas Palanga. He had 26 points, seven rebounds and three assists in a 95-90 win against Rytas 2 and 26 points and two rebounds in a 112-100 loss at BC Olimpas Palanga. Bulanovas also had 12 points, three rebounds and four assists against Omega-Tauras, 20 points and three rebounds at Kretinga, 20 points and five rebounds against Jurbarkas, 27 points and six rebounds at Vytis VDU, and 11 points and five rebounds against Kauno Atletas. Gabrielius Krivas added 10 points and six rebounds in the Palangos Olimpas loss, and Dominykas Grunkis had 12 points, one rebound and seven assists. Krivas played 20 minutes in that game, and Grunkis played 27. Zalgiris has recent wins against Besiktas 83-67, Rytas 2 95-90, Lietuvos rytas 94-89, Partizan 87-80, Virtus Bologna 91-74, Jonava Jonavos 86-63, Kretingos Kretinga 101-85 and ASVEL 105-85, with losses to Naglis Palanga 112-100 and Kauno 93-82 in that stretch.
Tevian Jones is a player to watch for Juventus. He had 24 points, four rebounds and four assists in Juventus’s most recent game, a 98-95 overtime win against JIP Pardubice. Jones played 31 minutes in the Pardubice win, 26 minutes at Jonava Jonavos and 24 minutes against Lietuvos rytas. Jones scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds at Jonava Jonavos, had 12 points, two rebounds and one assist at Reggiana, and had five points and three rebounds against Lietuvos rytas. He also had seven points, five rebounds and three assists against Gargzdai. Emmanuel Nzekwesi added 20 points and nine rebounds in the overtime win, and Laurynas Beliauskas had 10 points, four rebounds and nine assists. Juventus has recent wins against Reggiana 76-75, Gargzdu Gargzdai 100-90, Taurages 93-77 and Kedainiai Nevezis 94-77. Its recent losses include Jonava Jonavos 94-82, Lietuvos rytas 94-76, Šiauliai 83-71, Unicaja 105-66, Neptūnas 99-84 and Panevezys 84-82. Zalgiris is scheduled to visit Olimpia Milano next, while Juventus is set to visit Kedainiai Nevezis.
Interstat’s game simulator projects a final score of Zalgiris 99, Juventus 95. Interstat’s ELO system gives Zalgiris a 75.3 percent probability to win. Zalgiris is installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -14. The over/under is 170.5.