2017–18 LKL season

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 in 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

Juventus

Lietuvos rytas

Neptūnas

Nevėžis

Pieno žvaigždės

Vytautas

Dzūkija

Šiauliai

Lietkabelis

Žalgiris

Location of teams in 2017–18 LKL

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 v t e	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]

Source: LKL
Notes:

1. 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

Main article: 2018 LKL 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

Main article: 2018 LKL Finals

Team 1	Series	Team 2	Game 1	Game 2	Game 3	Game 4	Game 5	Game 6	Game 7
Žalgiris	4–1	Lietuvos rytas	96–83	73–82	90–80	82–78	80–70

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

Clubs in European competitions

Team	Competition	Progress	Ref
Žalgiris	EuroLeague	Third qualified
Lietuvos rytas	EuroCup	Top 16	[2]
Lietkabelis		Regular season
Neptūnas	Champions League	Round of 16	[3]
Juventus		Regular season
Vytautas		First qualifying round
Nevėžis	FIBA Europe Cup	Second round	[4]

Clubs in regional competitions

Team	Competition	Progress
Pieno žvaigždės	Baltic Basketball League	Champion
Vytautas		Disqualified
Šiauliai		4th place