2023–24 King Mindaugas Cup

The 2023–2024 King Mindaugas Cup, also known as Citadele Karaliaus Mindaugo taurė for sponsorship purposes, was the ninth edition of the Lithuanian King Mindaugas Cup. Žalgiris successfully defended the title for the 4th time in a row after defeating 7Bet–Lietkabelis in the final 86–70.

2023–2024 Karaliaus Mindaugo taurė
Tournament details
CountryLithuania
CityKaunas
Venue(s)Žalgiris Arena
Dates10 October 2023 – 18 February 2024
Teams13
Defending championsŽalgiris
Final positions
ChampionsŽalgiris (7th title)
Runner-up7Bet–Lietkabelis
Third placeRytas
Tournament statistics
MVPLithuania Laurynas Birutis

Format

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All 12 teams from 2023–24 LKL season and one wildcard team from 2023–24 NKL season participated in this tournament. Five teams that participated in Euroleague Basketball and FIBA tournaments, have received bye's to quarterfinals stage, while the remaining teams were drawn into two groups, with the group winners advancing straight to the Quarterfinals, while second-placed teams faced off each other for the final Quarterfinals spot.[1][2]

Group stage

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Group A

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification NEP JUV GAR MAZ
1 Neptūnas 6 5 1 547 513 +34 Advance to Quarterfinals 92–90 84–78 109–80
2 Uniclub Casino – Juventus 6 4 2 517 463 +54 Advance to Eightfinal 92–78 84–61 90–91
3 Gargždai 6 2 4 478 514 −36 87–97 66–75 95–93
4 M Basket-Delamode 6 1 5 506 558 −52 86–87 75–86 81–91
Source: LKL.LT

Group B

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Pos Team Pld W L PF PA PD Qualification SIA NEV OLI PZV
1 Šiauliai 6 5 1 565 506 +59 Advance to Quarterfinals 89–74 82–90 104–93
2 Nevėžis–Optibet 6 3 3 525 512 +13 Advance to Eightfinal 98–102 83–57 112–107
3 Olimpas 6 3 3 457 474 −17 75–88 77–66 80–71
4 Pieno žvaigždės 6 1 5 511 566 −55 76–100 80–92 84–78
Source: LKL.LT

Eightfinal

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Second ranked teams from each group faced-off each other in a home-and-away format, with the overall cumulative score determining the winner of a match. The winner earned the last quarterfinals spot.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Uniclub Casino – Juventus 208–203 Nevėžis–Optibet 107–90 101–113

Quarterfinals

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Five teams have received byes to the Quarterfinals stage due to participating in FIBA and Euroleague Basketball competitions. Those teams are:

All qualified teams will be drawn into pairs, where they will face-off each other in a home-and-away format, with the overall cumulative score determining the winner of a match. The winners of each pair would then qualify for the Final four.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Žalgiris 177–158 Wolves 95–76 82–82
Rytas 202–153 Uniclub Casino – Juventus 98–86 104–67
7Bet–Lietkabelis 168–167 Neptūnas 89–91 79–76
Cbet 149–163 Šiauliai 77–80 72–83

Final four

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Žalgirio Arena in Kaunas, Lithuania

The final four was hosted by the Žalgiris Arena in Kaunas on 17–18 February 2024.

Semifinals
17 February
Final
18 February
    
Žalgiris 87
Šiauliai 77
Žalgiris 86
7Bet–Lietkabelis 70
Rytas 86
7Bet–Lietkabelis 94 Third place
18 February
Šiauliai 89
Rytas 94

Semifinals

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17 February 2024 Žalgiris 87–77 Šiauliai Kaunas
18:15 (EET) Scoring by quarter: 20–25, 21–22, 26–16, 20–14
  Pts: Lekavičius 17
Rebs: Birutis 6
Asts: Evans, Lekavičius 4
PIR: Lekavičius 18
Boxscore Pts: Romančenko 17
Rebs: Pavelka 8
Asts: Thorpe 5
PIR: Romančenko 22
Arena: Žalgiris Arena
Attendance: 5,343
Referees: Jurgis Laurinavičius, Gintaras Mačiulis, Juozas Barkauskas
Starters: Pts Reb Ast
PG 2   Keenan Evans 10 3 4
SG 9   Dovydas Giedraitis 9 0 2
SF 10   Rolands Šmits 8 2 3
PF 92   Edgaras Ulanovas 8 5 1
C 45   Brady Manek 5 4 3
Reserves:
PG 4   Lukas Lekavičius 17 1 4
C 8   Kevarrius Hayes 3 0 0
C 15   Laurynas Birutis 12 6 1
G 26   Edmond Sumner 2 2 1
SG 33   Tomas Dimša 13 2 2
F/C 35   Danielius Lavrinovičius 0 0 0
SF 51   Arnas Butkevičius 0 2 2
Head coach:
  Andrea Trinchieri
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Starters: Pts Reb Ast
PG 2   L.J. Thorpe 14 2 5
SG 4   Eimantas Stankevičius 2 2 1
SF 9   Daniel Baslyk 5 5 0
PF 8   Ben Vander Plas 3 4 2
C 21   Tomaš Pavelka 11 8 0
Reserves:
G 3   Karolis Giedraitis 4 1 1
SF 23   Shaquille Keith 6 0 4
F/C 25   Dovydas Romančenko 17 4 0
G/F 29   Nojus Mineikis 11 6 2
SG 45   Deividas Žukauskas DNP
PF 77   Paulius Danusevičius 4 2 2
Head coach:
  Žydrūnas Urbonas
17 February 2024 Rytas 86–94 7Bet–Lietkabelis Kaunas
15:30 (EET) Scoring by quarter: 23―15, 18―16, 17―27, 28―36
  Pts: Foster 23
Rebs: Echodas 13
Asts: Velička 4
PIR: Echodas 24
Boxscore Pts: Gagić 31
Rebs: Gagić 10
Asts: Orelik 4
PIR: Gagić 44
Arena: Žalgiris Arena
Attendance: 4,508
Referees: Gytis Vilius, Saulius Račys, Gvidas Gedvilas
Starters: Pts Reb Ast
PG 17   Marcus Foster 23 0 2
SG 8   R. J. Cole 4 1 3
SF 4   Justin Gorham 4 1 0
PF 7   Gytis Radzevičius 7 5 2
C 12   Javin DeLaurier 5 3 0
Reserves:
PG 1   Arnas Velička 7 2 5
G 2   Margiris Normantas 14 3 3
G/F 10   Lukas Uleckas 0 0 0
C 14   Martynas Echodas 12 13 3
PF 21   Gytis Masiulis 10 5 1
PG 22   Gantas Križanauskas DNP
F/C 41   Oskaras Pleikys DNP
Head coach:
  Giedrius Žibėnas
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Starters: Pts Reb Ast
PG 7   Diante Baldwin 4 5 2
SG 91   Deividas Sirvydis 18 8 1
SF 10   Vytenis Lipkevičius 4 4 1
PF 17   Gediminas Orelik 13 4 4
C 41   Đorđe Gagić 31 10 1
Reserves:
PG 2   Dovis Bičkauskis 11 2 3
G/F 3   Liutauras Lelevičius DNP
SG 9   Nikas Stuknys DNP
F 11   Džiugas Slavinskas 0 1 1
F/C 12   Gabrielius Maldūnas 7 4 1
G/F 13   Martynas Varnas 4 1 3
PG 66   Paulius Valinskas 2 1 0
Head coach:
  Nenad Čanak (basketball)

Third place

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18 February 2024 Šiauliai 89–94 Rytas Kaunas
15:45 (EET) Scoring by quarter: 21―29, 23―23, 21―22, 24―20
  Pts: Keith 25
Rebs: Pavelka 6
Asts: Thorpe 3
PIR: Keith 21
Boxscore Pts: Normantas 22
Rebs: Cole, Radzevičius 6
Asts: Radzevičius 6
PIR: Radzevičius 26
Arena: Žalgiris Arena
Attendance: 9,933
Referees: Saulius Račys, Gintaras Mačiulis, Aurimas Borusas
Starters: Pts Reb Ast
PG 2   L.J. Thorpe 20 4 3
SG 4   Eimantas Stankevičius 13 4 1
SF 8   Ben Vander Plas 0 1 2
PF 9   Daniel Baslyk 4 2 1
C 21   Tomaš Pavelka 6 6 1
Reserves:
G 3   Karolis Giedraitis 3 0 1
SF 23   Shaquille Keith 25 4 0
F/C 25   Dovydas Romančenko 6 3 1
G/F 29   Nojus Mineikis 10 2 1
SG 45   Deividas Žukauskas DNP
PF 77   Paulius Danusevičius 2 5 0
Head coach:
  Žydrūnas Urbonas
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Starters: Pts Reb Ast
PG 17   Marcus Foster (basketball) 19 0 0
SG 8   R. J. Cole 2 6 5
SF 7   Gytis Radzevičius 15 6 6
PF 4   Justin Gorham 15 5 1
C 12   Javin DeLaurier 4 1 3
Reserves:
G 2   Margiris Normantas 22 0 1
G/F 10   Lukas Uleckas 4 2 1
C 14   Martynas Echodas 4 5 3
PF 21   Gytis Masiulis 4 3 1
PG 22   Gantas Križanauskas DNP
F/C 41   Oskaras Pleikys 5 2 2
Head coach:
  Giedrius Žibėnas


Final

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18 February 2024 Žalgiris 86–70 7Bet–Lietkabelis Kaunas
19:15 (EET) Scoring by quarter: 23―19, 29―19, 18―18, 16―14
  Pts: Evans 16
Rebs: Hayes 6
Asts: Lekavičius 5
PIR: Evans 21
Boxscore Pts: Sirvydis 15
Rebs: Lipkevičius 7
Asts: Orelik 8
PIR: Orelik 18
Arena: Žalgiris Arena
Attendance: 12,767
Referees: Gytis Vilius, Jurgis Laurinavičius, Gvidas Gedvilas


2023–24 King Mindaugas Cup champions
Žalgiris
(7th title)

Three-Point contest

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Contestants[3]
Pos. Player Team Height (m) Weight (kg) First round Second round Final round
G   Sean McNeilC Nevėžis–Optibet 1.90 95 19 19 16
G/F   Artis Ate Pieno žvaigždės 1.93 88 18
G   Eimantas Stankevičius Šiauliai 1.92 90 18
G   Ivan Gandia-Rosa CBet 1.85 87 18
G   Martynas Gecevičius M Basket–Delamode 1.93 95 22 18
G   Ignas Sargiūnas Neptūnas 1.96 86 13
G   Liutauras Lelevičius 7Bet–Lietkabelis 2.01 90 18
G   Marius Valinskas Uniclub Casino – Juventus 1.87 81 11
G   Rasheed SulaimonC Wolves 1.94 93 19 20 16
G/F   Lukas UleckasREP Rytas 1.99 93 12
F/C   Danielius Lavrinovičius Žalgiris 2.06 105 22 17
G   Edvinas Paulauskas 1.90 80 15
G   Brandon Tabb Pieno žvaigždės 1.93 89 14

^REP Lukas Uleckas was selected as Arnas Velička replacement.[4]
^C After the contest, it was noted that Rasheed Sulaimon scored only 16 points instead of 18 points and the series should have been tied. The LKL presented a prize of the same value to Sean McNeil and the contest title is shared between these two players.[5]

References

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  1. ^ "Patvirtinti galimi Citadele KMT formatai, pirmojo etapo burtų ceremonija – sekmadienį". lkl.lt (in Lithuanian). 26 September 2023. Retrieved 13 October 2023.
  2. ^ "Paaiškėjo KMT grupės ir tvarkaraštis". 15min.lt (in Lithuanian). 5 October 2023. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  3. ^ "Paaiškėjo „Betsafe Casino" snaiperių konkurso dalyviai". lkl.lt (in Lithuanian). 1 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  4. ^ "Rokiruotė „Ryto" stovykloje „Snaiperio" konkursui – komandai atstovaus Uleckas". basketnews.lt (in Lithuanian). 17 February 2024. Retrieved 18 February 2024.
  5. ^ ""Betsafe Casino" snaiperio konkurse – dviejų žaidėjų triumfas". lkl.lt (in Lithuanian). 18 February 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.