Kauno Žalgiris will meet Panevėžio Lietkabelis in the LKL semifinals after both clubs swept their quarterfinal series 2-0. Žalgiris finished off Jonavos Hipocredit with a 90:75 road win, while Lietkabelis eliminated Šiauliai by the same margin.
The win sent Žalgiris into the last four as the regular-season leader, and it came with a split performance that coach Tomas Masiulis did not try to hide. Žalgiris opened the game sharply, taking the first quarter 32:14 and leading 25:18 after the second, but the tempo changed after halftime as they were outscored 15:26 in the third and edged 18:17 in the fourth.
Masiulis said his team started the game properly, but lost some of its edge after the break and seemed more focused on running down the clock than pushing the game forward. “Rungtynes pradėjome tinkamai nusiteikę. Po pertraukos išėjome po pertraukos kitokio nusiteikimo, tiesiog pratempti laiką. Šiek tiek liūdna, bet džiaugiamės iškovoję pergalę ir žiūrime į pusfinalį,” he said.
That sets up a semifinal series that will be played to three victories, with the exact start date still dependent on the remaining quarterfinal results. If Utenos Juventus and Klaipėdos Neptūnas also win their series again, the semifinals will begin on Tuesday. If any quarterfinal goes to a deciding game, the semifinals will open on Wednesday.
The matchup carries immediate weight because Lietkabelis reached the semifinals in the same clean-cut way, beating Šiauliai 2-0, and Masiulis knows what that means for the next round. “Lietkabelis turi patyrusių žaidėjų, žino, kaip žaisti tokiose rungtynėse. Kaip ir minėjau, sezono metu kažkur strigo, bet rezultatą sugeba parodyti, lemiamoms kovoms susikoncentruoja. Turime būti pilnai pasiruošę, laukia sunki pusfinalio serija. Kiek šį sezoną žaidėme, tiek buvo sudėtingos rungtynės,” he said.
Žalgiris is where it expected to be after finishing first in the regular season, but the next series should be harder to control. Lietkabelis has already shown it can close quickly and, with the semifinal timetable still tied to other games, the waiting now belongs to the bracket rather than the two teams.
