Betsafe-LKL's ninth game week - Desure Buie and the Made in USA magic

The ninth round of the Lithuanian highest basketball league, Betsafe-LKL showed why the league is considered among the top basketball leagues in Europe. Together with the Betsafe-LKL official mobile game, Scorestars, we're going over the key actions from the games.

The game week started in one of the oldest cities in Lithuania, Kėdainiai. The local Nevėžis-Optibet played against Neptūnas this time and unfortunately were left with another defeat. Joseph Girard III, the American guard, made a solid performance which resulted in 22 efficiency rating. Yet, Desure Buie (25 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 34 (!) efficiency rating), a fellow US citizen playing in Lithuania, showed his quality and led Neptūnas to victory. Final score 74-83 for Neptūnas.

The second game of the Saturday night was played between Uniclub Bet-Juventus and Šiauliai-Casino Admiral. The two sides had a similar run this season and the game didn’t separate the two in the Betsafe-LKL league table. Uniclub Bet-Juventus quickly took the lead during the first two quarters, going to the half-time break by leading the game 52-39. The Uniclub Bet-Juventus' powerful duo - Leonard Bernard Thorpe Jr (27 EFF) and Dominic Green (23 EFF) - decided the game totally during the second half. Full time 101-88 for Uniclub Bet-Juventus who collected their fourth win from nine games this season.

During the last few seasons, Lithuanian basketball fans have been interested in two main derbys. If before, Žalgiris vs Rytas was the biggest derby in Lithuania then now Rytas vs Wolves has become a true derby between the two Vilnius teams. Therefore, the Sunday night’s first game got all eyes on it.

Rytas Vilnius hosted Wolves Twinsbet at home (yet the arena belongs to Wolves Twinsbet). Under 5800 eyeballs, a true basketball thriller was played out. Rytas started the game slightly better and won the first two quarters by 11 points. The dominant performance by Kristupas Žemaitis (17 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 18 EFF) resulted in victory for Wolves Twinsbet. End score 71-82 for the Wolves. It was the 6th win for them and places the team to the fourth spot in the league standings.

The second game of the Sunday night rolled out in Kaunas where the local Kaunas Žalgiris went against M Basket-Delamode. Žalgiris took a quick lead and made clear why they are having a great run in the Euroleague. A massive performance under the basket by Laurynas Birutis (27 EFF) made it an easy win for Žalgiris. Final score 101-46.

The most thrilling game was played in Jonava as CBet Jonava hosted 7bet-Lietkabelis. After the first quarter, it seemed that the guests are going their way and there’s no sign that CBet could stop them. Yet, Dominic Brewton showed that his out-of-this-world performance in the Citadele KMT last game wasn’t lucky but that he is a true baller. His 21 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks resulted in 30 efficiency rating. CBet Jonava pushed the pedal and grabbed their fifth win from nine games played. Final score 84-82.

Results of the 9th week of Betsafe-LKL:

Nevežis-Optibet Kėdainiai 74-83 Neptūnas Klaipeda

Uniclub Bet-Juventus Utena 101-88 Šiauliai-Casino Admiral

Rytas Vilnius 71-82 Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius

Žalgiris Kaunas 101-46 M Basket-Delamode Mažeikiai

CBet Jonava 84-82 7bet-Lietkabelis Panevėžys

Here‘s how the Betsafe-LKL standings look after the 9th game week:

Rytas Vilnius (9 GP, 7 W, 2 L)

Žalgiris Kaunas (9 GP, 7 W, 2 L)

Neptūnas Klaipėda (9 GP, 6 W, 3 L)

Wolves Twinsbet Vilnius (9 GP, 6 W, 3 L)

CBet Jonava (9 GP, 5 W, 4 L)

7bet-Lietkabelis Panevėžys (9 GP, 4 W, 5 L)

Uniclub Bet-Juventus Utena (9 GP, 4 W, 5 L)

Šiauliai-Casino Admiral (9 GP, 4 W, 5 L)

Nevežis-Optibet Kėdainiai (9 GP, 1 W, 8 L)

M Basket-Delamode Mažeikiai (9 GP, 1 W, 8 L)

Scorestars Dream Team:

This week, the Weekly Dream Team Lineup includes mostly the players who have shined throughout the nine game weeks. It consists of Laurynas Birutis (27 EFF) at center, Dominic Green (23 EFF) at forward, Leonard Bernard Thorpe Jr (27 EFF), the MVP of the ninth Betsafe-LKL game week, Desure Buie (34 EFF), and Dominic Brewton (30 EFF) at the guard position. Well done guys!

The Betsafe-LKL tenth game week will be played after the national basketball games on the 30th of November! Create your lineups on the Scorestars mobile app and start playing the Betsafe-LKL fantasy game!

Limited time offer: Everyone has the opportunity to go into Scorestars user settings and enter a code: LKLFANTASY to get 1500 basketballs to use for the in-app purchases.