Zalgiris Kaunas vs Crvena Zvezda prediction and odds

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Both Zalgiris and Crvena Zvezda began the new 2023-24 EuroLeague season with impressive wins in round 1. The two teams harbour serious ambitions to target a Final Four appearance this season and this clash between them early in the campaign could be decisive. Here are our Zalgiris vs Crvena Zvezda predictions.

Zalgiris vs Crvena Zvezda scaled — (Photo by Slobodan Sandic/Icon Sport)

Zalgiris vs Crvena Zvezda – game predictions

Contents

1 Zalgiris vs Crvena Zvezda – game predictions
- 1.1 Prediction 1: Crvena Zvezda over 76.5 points @ 8/11 (1.73)
- 1.2 Prediction 2: Rolands Smits under 9.5 points @ 4/7 (1.57)
2 Zalgiris vs Crvena Zvezda preview – who will shoot better from a distance?
- 2.1 Crvena Zvezda news, injuries, and starting lineups
- 2.2 Zalgiris vs Crvena Zvezda head-to-head record since 2000
3 Zalgiris vs Crvena Zvezda game details

Below are our Zalgiris vs Crvena Zvezda predictions. You can find more EuroLeague predictions here.

Prediction 1: Crvena Zvezda over 76.5 points @ 8/11 (1.73)

Crvena Zvezda scored 94 points last week in round 1. They also scored 77 or more points in 3 of their last 4 matches against Zalgiris. To add to that Zalgiris allowed 79 points in round 1 and despite winning for three quarters they looked shaky defensively. The combination of all that makes us think that Crvena Zvezda will score at least 77 points in Kaunas.

Prediction 2: Rolands Smits under 9.5 points @ 4/7 (1.57)

Our second prediction looks at Zalgiris’ forward Rolands Smits. Smits had exactly 10 points last week in Bologna. However, now against the much stronger defence of Crvena Zvezda, we don’t back him to get to double digits in scoring again.

This is the sixth consecutive season for Smits in the EuroLeague and he has never been known as a scoring machine. He averaged only 5.9 points per game over the last 5 campaigns and this is also why we don’t fancy his chances of going for 10 or more this time around.

These odds were correct at the time of writing.

Zalgiris vs Crvena Zvezda preview – who will shoot better from a distance?

Both Zalgiris and Crvena Zvezda rely heavily on their shooting from beyond the arc. The team with a better percentage likely wins this match.

Zalgiris news, injuries, and starting lineups

Zalgiris started the new campaign where they left off last season. The Lithuanians had an impressive previous campaign in the EuroLeague and they are seen as one of the main contenders for the Final Four once again.

In their first game, they made an impressive final-quarter comeback to beat the strong Virtus Bologna team on the road. Keenan Evans was his usual best with his 25 points but it was really the very solid defending that won Zalgiris this match.

Last season the teams exchanged home wins during the regular season. Both those matches were close. The sides also played a friendly less than a month ago and Zalgiris edged that game 85-84.

The Lithuanians enter the match at full strength and high on confidence.

ZAL vs CZ scaled — Photo: Andreas Gora/dpa – Photo by Icon sport

Zalgiris Injury Report:

N/A

Zalgiris Starting Lineup:

Kevarrius Hayes, Edgaras Ulanovas, Keenan Evans, Rolands Smits, Tomas Dimsa

Crvena Zvezda news, injuries, and starting lineups

Crvena Zvezda’s new head coach Duska Ivanovica couldn’t have hoped for a better start to the EuroLeague campaign. Zvezda trashed Lyon 94-73 at home in what was an easy-going from start to finish. Zvezda equalled a club-record in the EuroLeague in this match with 17 3-pointers made. All this, without the star point guard Teodosic contributing much.

Napier and the Lithuanian Giedraitis were the main stars in that game. Giedraitis is likely to be extra motivated for the coming match.

Zvezda continue to be without the services of the vastly experienced ex-NBA forward Nemanja Bjelica. He is yet to recover from a leg injury sustained back in March. Marko Simonovic is doing a good job in his role so this hasn’t been a major issue up to now.