Klaipėda’s “Neptūnas” on Monday defended their home court against Utena’s “Juventus” team with a score of 102:84 (27:20, 24:22, 24:21, 27:21), won the survival battle, and secured the fourth semifinal game.
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In the best-of-five series, “Neptūnas” narrowed the score to 1-2.
The next game will be on Wednesday at 6:30 PM in Utena. If a fifth game is needed, it is scheduled for Friday in Klaipėda.
“The most important thing is that we won. We again experienced some ups and downs, but fortunately, this time everything ended successfully. It’s a pity that we keep letting the opponents’ leaders go – sometimes Valinskas, sometimes Lewis. Now this day off will be very important. We will make adjustments and see,” said “Neptūnas” coach Gediminas Petrauskas after the victorious match.
According to the coach, this was the best game of the Klaipėda team in this series.
“There were the fewest waves, the best fans. I hope we will still play the best game of the series,” said G. Petrauskas.
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One of the keys to victory the coach highlighted was the solid long-range shooting by the hosts.
“There were definitely tough shots as well. I can’t say that we didn’t create three-point opportunities in the first two games. We did create them, but missed. As a coach, I can only look for new ways to create those shots or play through the paint. We try to play as diversely as possible,” said the “Neptūnas” coach.
“This time we didn’t control the opponents,” sighed Utena’s coach Laimonas Eglinskas after the game. “In the first half, we lost the battle under the basket very badly. They had many second chances, took advantage of them, and because of that, it was hard to play. We weren’t relaxed, but we put ourselves into some kind of frame, demanded too much from ourselves, and pressure appeared, which we don’t need at all. We have to admit that we are still underdogs, coming here from seventh place. I don’t know why we create that pressure. I think we will manage. It’s also nice that Utena will see another wonderful basketball celebration.”
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