Žalgiris Reign Supreme as Neptūnas End a Seven-Year Bronze Drought

The curtain has fallen on the 2025–26 LKL sponsored by Betsson season, and it ended the only way Kaunas has come to expect — with Žalgiris lifting the championship trophy. But while the title race was settled with clinical efficiency, the third-place battle between Neptūnas Klaipėda and Lietkabelis Panevėžys provided the drama the postseason craved.

Žalgiris: A Machine Without an Off Switch

Žalgiris opened the championship finals against Juventus Utena in the kind of form that discourages opposition: a 107:75 demolition at home, their 33rd consecutive victory. The 32-point margin was the largest in an LKL final since 2019, when Žalgiris had routed Rytas Vilnius by 38. Ąžuolas Tubelis and Moses Wright led the way, each registering 19 and 17 points respectively along with 23 efficiency rating points apiece — a front-court partnership operating at a level Juventus simply had no answer for.

The second game, played away in Utena, was equally one-sided: Žalgiris won 100:69, their biggest road win of the LKL season. Tubelis was again irresistible, finishing with 20 points and a near-perfect shooting night from inside, while the Utena side's best efforts from Maxwell Lewis (16 points) and Paulius Valinskas (17) were never going to be enough to stem the tide.

Game three brought a formal close to proceedings. Žalgiris won at home 95:77 to complete a 3-0 sweep, claiming the club's 26th title in their history. The season concluded with Kaunas suffering only one defeat across the entire campaign — something that last happened back in 2012. For Juventus, who had made a remarkable run to the finals as a smaller-market club, the silver medal was still the finest achievement in the club's history. Tubelis, despite missing the second half of the deciding match due to illness, was awarded the series MVP.

The Bronze Battle: Drama, Buzzer-Beaters and a Long Wait Ended

If the championship series lacked suspense, the third-place contest between Neptūnas and Lietkabelis more than compensated. Over four tense, alternating games played between two clubs who clearly could not stand losing to each other, it became the most compelling subplot of the postseason.

Neptūnas set the tone with a convincing 86:73 home win in Game 1, with Arnas Velička — the league's regular-season MVP — posting 14 points and 25 efficiency rating points to lead his side. Latvian forward Karlis Šilinš was the game's top scorer with 15, while Lietkabelis's Estonian import Kristians Kullamae put up a valiant 25 points in a losing effort.

Panevėžys responded in Game 2, winning at home 80:68 to level the series at 1-1. Kullamae was again the standout for the home side, finishing with 19 points and 20 efficiency rating points, as Lietkabelis used a decisive third-quarter surge to overturn an early deficit.

Game 3 — back in Klaipėda — produced the moment of the series. Neptūnas trailed for large portions of the contest but Šilinš hit a game-winning shot on the final buzzer to give the hosts a narrow 66:63 victory and a 2-1 series lead. Šilinš finished as his team's top scorer with 14 points, while Donatas Tarolis added 13 and 9 rebounds. For Paulius Danusevičius of Lietkabelis, a magnificent 17-point, 8-rebound performance counted for nothing in the end.

The decisive Game 4 was played in Panevėžys, and Neptūnas closed out the series 91:82 to take the bronze 3-1. Rihardas Lomažs was the star with 22 points and 6 rebounds, while Arnas Beručka set a personal season-best with 18 points. Kullamae and Danusevičius each chipped in 22 for the hosts, but Lietkabelis, three-time defending bronze medallists, could not overturn the tide.

The bronze was Neptūnas's first since 2019 — the sixth medal in the club's history — and for coach Gediminas Petrauskas, his first career medal as a head coach. As for Lietkabelis, their absence from the podium also echoed 2019, the last time they had finished a season without a medal.