CSKA Moscow make it 8 in a row; Strike late to overpower KK Zagreb 87-74 – Euroleague Recap
On Wednesday night, CSKA Moscow, playing at home, romped to their 8th consecutive win in the Euroleague and in doing so put Croatian side KK Zagreb on the cusp of elimination in the first round.
The game which the Russians won by 87-74 wasn’t as simple as the scores suggest. CSKA had their work cut out throughout the first 30 minutes of the game, especially the first quarter.
The Croatians started off with two consecutive strikes from beyond the arc to set the tone and then went on to hound CSKA throughout the frame. Just before the buzzer, an Ante Masic 3 put Zagreb ahead by 7, before Jamont Gordon slipped in a layup to make it 18-23 entering into the second frame.
The Russians got their act together in the second frame and tipped it off with a 10-4 burst, capped by a slam jam by Andrey Vorontsevich, to take the lead at 28-27. Zagreb re-claimed the lead seconds later, but a Jamont trey and two layups midway through the frame gave CSKA a clear advantage of 6 points, 35-29.
Zagreb responded with a three pointer, but the Russians went on to cap the first half with an 8-2 run to take a 43-34 advantage.
CSKA pushed their lead into double figures early in the third quarter and led by as many as 12 points. However, they let the guard drop and the Croatians slowly marshalled their way back. Moscow were still leading by 9 points going into the last two minutes of the period, but a 7-0 spurt followed by a 5-0 spree in the last minute gave the visitors a one point lead, 58-57.
Moscow however managed to salvage a two point lead in the dying seconds after Ramunas Siskauskas drilled a three pointer.
The Russians came back into their groove in the final period. After a standstill in the opening couple of minutes, they raced away to a 7-0 spurt and then again broke free with a 10-2 assault to consolidate their grip on the game at 80-66. From there on, the game was only going in one direction.
CSKA, who were resting their star players, were led by Jamont Gordon, who scored a season-high 18 points. Nenad Krstic missed out on a double-double with 14 points and 9 rebounds, Sammy Mejia had 13, Siskauskas finished with 11 points while Andrey Vorontsevich also scored 10.
Krunoslav Simon was the key for Zagreb with 21 points and 5 assists; Josh Heytvelt chipped in with 19 points while Sean May had 13.
Zagreb coach, Vladimir Androic, was satisfied with his team’s performance despite the loss;
"We had only one goal for tonight – to play as good as it possible against CSKA. And I think we reached our goal against one of the strongest teams in Europe. I understand that CSKA had its own tasks, they let some key players rest, they put on the floor many guys who did not play more before. But I am glad we stayed serious until the end and were able to stay in the game.”
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