Žalgiris - Maccabi

Paris easily dealt with Zvezda in the last round and signs of recovery can be seen. Asvel defeated Efes with random players' career performances, took one from Peru and should continue to collect losses. Paris' goals are higher and their team is significantly better. In Asvel, only De Colo is aiming for the level of Euroleague and I don't think they will catch up with Paris today.

The Serbs from Valencia won't catch up here. Nobody wants to play there. The chaos won't end and will not end this season. Players obviously don't want to play here, there are no teams, no relationships with fans, coaches, management, nothing. Maccabi has almost scored 100 points in 3 periods, so we can expect -40 here.

Cisco's introduction is probably unnecessary. In the last EuroLeague games, the performance was very poor and there were disagreements with coach Masiulis. The conflicts have been resolved and everything seems to be going well within the team. We should see the usual Cisco style of play again, and the Frenchman does not seem to be struggling with total points this season.

But Hapeol, the better Euroleague team, finally can play at home, where we can expect even better performance from them, so they can easily score an average of 88.5 points against Peru, especially against Žalgiris. Kaunas is known for its offense-focused basketball and often achieves such totals against Peru, but considering the strength of the Lithuanian team, it won't be easy. However, when both teams have a similar playing style, I believe we can expect a high score.

I do not believe that there is such a big difference between the teams here that Žalgiris would have little chances. They will have their opportunities, Francisco had to sort out his thoughts during the holidays, talk to Masiulis and draw conclusions. These are his games, against the top Euroleague team at the moment, so I am expecting very good performance from him today, and with his good performances, Žalgiris will definitely fight until the end, and then they can win against anyone.

Tubelis played a somewhat poorer stretch in the Euroleague, not reaching such a high total in three consecutive matches, but was dominant before that. Today, we will need a good game from him and he should be fed with balls for an over and should make more than 3-4 shots from behind the arc, as he did during this period.

Žalgiris looks wavy in this season's playoffs in the Euroleague after good matches, followed by very poor ones, but it seems that the team communicates internally and tries to come to some conclusions. Yesterday we saw a really good Kaunas club, but today the opponent is significantly more serious. However, I believe that with a good day, Žalgiris and Peru can take the win.

Hapoel is a more talented team in offense, although their defense is not at the highest level. However, in front of their own fans and a full arena, they can reach the sky. Žalgiris does not have a good record, even though they collected points against Peru. But the opponents were not the strongest lately, and they played the way they should have against all teams. But here, I think, it will be a different story. Žalgiris heavily relies on three-point shots, and if they are not falling, it will be very difficult for them to play against such a team, as their offensive arsenal is very wide. Against a team like this, they need to start with defense. But lately, there have been many doubts about Žalgiris' defense, as they allow their opponents to take and make a lot of shots, which is the main reason why their defensive rating has dropped. I believe the Jewish club will make a serious breakthrough, after which it will be very difficult for Žalgiris to recover. Sisco seems to be a little tired recently, which affects the team's effectiveness. However, if he remembers that he can also play defense, then he can turn the game around. But as I mentioned before, it is very difficult to shut down a team like this on defense.