2017–18 LKL season
Basketball league season
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The 2017–18 Lietuvos krepšinio lyga, also called Betsafe-LKL for sponsorship reasons, was the 25th season of the top-tier level professional basketball league of Lithuania, the Lietuvos krepšinio lyga (LKL). The season started in September 2017, and the last game of final series was played on 18 June 2018.
| Betsafe-LKL | |
|---|---|
| Season | 2017–18 |
| Duration | September 2017 – June 2018 |
| Games played | 220 (regular season) |
| Teams | 10 |
| Regular season | |
| Season MVP | Laurynas Birutis |
| Relegated | Vytautas |
| Finals | |
| Champions | Žalgiris (20th title) |
| Runners-up | Lietuvos rytas |
| Third place | Neptūnas |
| Fourth place | Lietkabelis |
| Records | |
| Average attendance | 2,478 |
← 2016–17 2018–19 → | |
Žalgiris is the defending champion.
Competition format
During the regular season, all teams will play 36 games. The top eight teams in the regular season standings, after playing their entire 36 game schedule, will each qualify for the playoffs in the quarterfinals, that will be played in a best-of-five games format. The semifinals will also be played in that format.
The final round will be played between the two winners of the semifinals. The finals series, for first place, will be played in a best-of-seven format, while the series for third place will be played in a best-of-five format.[1]
Teams
| Team | Location | Arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dzūkija | Alytus | Alytus Arena | 5,500 |
| Juventus | Utena | Utena Arena | 2,000 |
| Lietkabelis | Panevėžys | Cido Arena | 5,950 |
| Lietuvos rytas | Vilnius | Lietuvos rytas Arena | 2,500 |
| Siemens Arena | 10,000 | ||
| Neptūnas | Klaipėda | Švyturys Arena | 6,200 |
| Nevėžis | Kėdainiai | Kėdainiai Arena | 2,200 |
| Pieno žvaigždės | Pasvalys | Pieno žvaigždės Arena | 1,500 |
| Šiauliai | Šiauliai | Šiauliai Arena | 5,700 |
| Vytautas | Prienai-Birštonas | Prienai Arena | 1,500 |
| Žalgiris | Kaunas | Žalgiris Arena | 15,708 |
Regular season
In the regular season, teams play against each other four times, home-and-away, in double a round-robin format. The eight first qualified teams advance to the play-offs. The regular season started on 19 September 2017.
Table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Žalgiris | 36 | 32 | 4 | 3014 | 2451 | +563 | Advance to play-offs |
| 2 | Lietuvos rytas | 36 | 30 | 6 | 3162 | 2704 | +458 | |
| 3 | Neptūnas | 36 | 25 | 11 | 3011 | 2838 | +173 | |
| 4 | Lietkabelis | 36 | 20 | 16 | 3013 | 2978 | +35 | |
| 5 | Šiauliai | 36 | 16 | 20 | 2886 | 2941 | −55 | |
| 6 | Pieno žvaigždės | 36 | 14 | 22 | 2894 | 3140 | −246 | |
| 7 | Juventus | 36 | 13 | 23 | 2918 | 3029 | −111 | |
| 8 | Nevėžis | 36 | 12 | 24 | 2805 | 2993 | −188 | |
| 9 | Dzūkija | 36 | 10 | 26 | 2721 | 3030 | −309 | |
| 10 | Vytautas[a] | 36 | 8 | 28 | 2805 | 3125 | −320 | Relegation to NKL[Note 1] |
Notes:
- If other 9 LKL teams and Vytis from National Basketball League (NKL) meet the licensing requirements, Vytautas would be relegated. However, Vytis did not meet licensing requirements, meaning Vytautas stayed onto the LKL for at least another season.
Play-offs
The quarter-finals are played in a best-of-five format, with the higher seeded team playing the first, third and (if necessary) fifth game at home. The semi-finals are played in a best-of-five format and the finals in a best-of-seven format, with the higher seed team playing games 1, 3, 5 and 7 (if necessary) at home.
Bracket
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||
1 Žalgiris | 3 | |||||||||
8 Nevėžis | 0 | |||||||||
1 Žalgiris | 3 | |||||||||
4 Lietkabelis | 0 | |||||||||
4 Lietkabelis | 3 | |||||||||
5 Šiauliai | 1 | |||||||||
1 Žalgiris | 4 | |||||||||
2 Lietuvos rytas | 1 | |||||||||
2 Lietuvos rytas | 3 | |||||||||
7 Juventus | 0 | |||||||||
2 Lietuvos rytas | 3 | |||||||||
3 Neptūnas | 2 | Third place series | ||||||||
3 Neptūnas | 3 | |||||||||
6 Pieno žvaigždės | 1 | |||||||||
3 Neptūnas | 3 | |||||||||
4 Lietkabelis | 1 | |||||||||
Quarterfinals
| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Žalgiris | 3–0 | Nevėžis | 95–70 | 96–75 | 84–69 | ||
| Lietuvos rytas | 3–0 | Juventus | 97–64 | 79–78 | 102–73 | ||
| Neptūnas | 3–1 | Pieno žvaigždės | 91–81 | 87–92 | 92–82 | 101–64 | |
| Lietkabelis | 3–1 | Šiauliai | 103–86 | 84–94 | 92–68 | 85–84 |
Semifinals
| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Žalgiris | 3–0 | Lietkabelis | 93–69 | 94–79 | 83–64 | ||
| Lietuvos rytas | 3–2 | Neptūnas | 79–84 | 67–49 | 74–67 | 70–74 | 88–82 |
Third place series
| Team 1 | Series | Team 2 | Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3 | Game 4 | Game 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neptūnas | 3–1 | Lietkabelis | 69–83 | 71–69 | 79–71 | 89–78 |
Finals
Attendance data
Attendance data included playoff games:
| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Žalgiris | 105,384 | 11,293 | 1,374 | 4,215 | +5.3% |
| 2 | Lietuvos rytas | 96,239 | 9,830 | 830 | 3,850 | +60.2% |
| 3 | Neptūnas | 88,230 | 5,490 | 2,100 | 3,676 | −15.3% |
| 4 | Lietkabelis | 79,784 | 6,419 | 2,488 | 3,469 | −6.8% |
| 5 | Šiauliai | 48,300 | 5,200 | 1,000 | 2,415 | +78.6% |
| 6 | Dzūkija | 32,512 | 3,764 | 415 | 1,806 | +1.1% |
| 7 | Juventus | 28,388 | 3,128 | 864 | 1,494 | +3.3% |
| 8 | Nevėžis | 18,111 | 1,800 | 550 | 953 | +7.8% |
| 9 | Vytautas | 14,235 | 1,500 | 300 | 791 | +10.6% |
| 10 | Pieno žvaigždės | 11,623 | 1,100 | 200 | 581 | −3.8% |
| League total | 522,806 | 11,293 | 200 | 2,478 | +8.4% |
Source: LKL
Awards
Player of the month
| Month | Player | Team | PIR | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | ||||
| September |  Juan Palacios | Neptūnas | 22.7 | [2] |
| October |  Arnas Butkevičius | Neptūnas | 25.5 | [3] |
| November |  Vyacheslav Bobrov | Pieno žvaigždės | 28.3 | [4] |
| December | Edgaras Želionis | Neptūnas | 18.8 | [5] |
| 2018 | ||||
| January | Renaldas Seibutis | Neptūnas | 25 | [6] |
| February |  Lorenzo Williams | Lietkabelis | 28 | [7] |
| March | Laurynas Birutis | Šiauliai | 26.4 | [8] |
| April | Laurynas Birutis | Šiauliai | 23.4 | [9] |
Clubs in European competitions
| Team | Competition | Progress | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| Žalgiris | EuroLeague | Third qualified | |
| Lietuvos rytas | EuroCup | Top 16 | [10] |
| Lietkabelis | Regular season | ||
| Neptūnas | Champions League | Round of 16 | [11] |
| Juventus | Regular season | ||
| Vytautas | First qualifying round | ||
| Nevėžis | FIBA Europe Cup | Second round | [12] |
Clubs in regional competitions
| Team | Competition | Progress |
|---|---|---|
| Pieno žvaigždės | Baltic Basketball League | Champion |
| Vytautas | Disqualified | |
| Šiauliai | 4th place |