CSKA Moscow got back on the winning track by holding off fellow-Russian rival Zenit St Petersburg 86-78 on Tuesday to open the latest double-round week in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. CSKA improved to 18-9 and is on the verge of qualifying for the EuroLeague Playoffs, while Zenit remains at the bottom of the standings with a 7-20 mark.
CSKA inches closer to playoffs, 86-78
Game Report
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CSKA took the lead for good midway through the second quarter and opened an 11-point margin in the third, but Zenit kept coming back behind Austin Hollins. However, CSKA never allowed the visitors closer than 4 points before Mike James closed things out. James finished with 27 points. Johannes Voigtmann had 13 points and 6 rebounds, Darrun Hilliard scored 11 and Kyle Hines had 10 in the victory. Hollins led all scorers with a club-record 28 points and Tim Abromaitis added 13 in Zenit's losing effort.
Zenit drilled back-to-back-to-back threes to open the game -- one each from Dmitry Khvostov, Hollins and Will Thomas -- for a 2-11 lead. CSKA replied by not allowing another basket for almost 4 minutes, during its own 8-0 run, in which James assisted Voigtmann and Hilliard for three-pointers. Gustavo Ayon kept Zenit in front and Abromaitis hit a three to make it 14-20, but CSKA finished the quarter with a 9-1 run, capped by James's buzzer-beating triple to make it 23-21. Kosta Koufos extended the CSKA lead with 4 points, but Andrey Zubkov's basket-and-one helped tie the score at 29-29. CSKA opened a 37-31 lead after a triple apiece from Janis Strelnieks and Voigtmann, but Hollins scored 7 points, including another three-pointer, to cut the difference to 39-38. Hilliard and James knocked down back-to-back threes before Evgeny Voronov got Zenit within 46-43 at halftime.
CSKA opened the second half with a 7-0 run behind James, then Voigtmann hit a triple as the lead of the hosts reached 56-45. Hollins and Colton Iverson kept Zenit in range, and Abromaitis capped a 0-7 run with a triple make it 62-58. James beat the buzzer at the end of the third quarter with a three-pointer that made it 66-58, but the visitors were not going away. Alex Renfroe matched him early in the fourth quarter as Zenit pulled within 70-66. Hilliard answered with another downtown dagger before a pair of baskets from previously scoreless Joel Bolomboy opened a 77-66 CSKA breach midway through the quarter. Hollins scored 8 more points, including a pair of threes, but Strelnieks knocked down a corner triple to make it 82-74. A fastbreak layup from Hollins halved the deficit in the final minute, but a jumper from James with 20.2 seconds to go sealed the deal.
Game Leaders
Slim margins
Despite winning by 8 points, CSKA still did not lose any of the four quarters. CSKA won the first quarter by a two-point margin, second quarter by 1 point and the third by 5 before tying the fourth quarter.
Downtown touch
CSKA finished the game making 12 of 25 triples for 48%, which is better than how the hosts shot two-pointers (15-for-34, or 44.1%). Zenit was not far from doing the same, hitting 45.5% on three-pointers while making 46.3% of its twos.
Dominating fellow Russians
With this win CSKA swept both Zenit and Khimki Moscow Region this regular season. It is the seventh consecutive win for CSKA over a fellow Russian team, and the fifth different team that CSKA has swept in a season series this century, joining Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar in the 2013-14 season, Nizhny Novgorod in the 2014-15 season, UNICS Kazan in the 2016-17 campaign and Khimki.
Improved scoring mark
EuroLeague rookie Austin Hollins set a new Zenit single-game scoring mark with 28 points. This is the third time this season Hollins scored 25 or more points, while no other Zenit player scored more than 21 in a game so far.
Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA Moscow
"There were a lot of keys. We were consistent, winning all quarters and tying the last one. There were a lot of details. The fact that we changed our defense, it worked well, especially in the third quarter when we kept them to 15 points. Congratulations to my players, congratulations to the team."
"We had our momentum, had plus-11 several times, but we did not use our bonus fouls correctly. At that moment, at 61-50, we had 3 fouls to use, but they scored 8 easy points in this kind of situation when we have to use the fouls better. But in general, there are no easy games out there. If they chase the playoffs or home-court advantage or if they are below the playoff spots. We know that, we got to be ready for the next one. We have film tomorrow and travel to play against another important team."
Xavi Pascual, Zenit St Petersburg
"Congratulations to CSKA on this game. I think we played the way how we have to play. We kept to our game plan for 40 minutes. In the beginning of the third quarter, CSKA took control of the game. It was crucial in the first 3-4 minutes at the beginning of the third quarter when CSKA took advantage and we had to play from behind the rest of the game. But we were there, we were fighting and we were playing until the end. We have to continue. We are making good steps, but we have to make one step more next week against Zalgiris. We know we don't have a chance to reach the playoffs, but we want to improve step by step and we want to win games. If we keep working we will have results one day."
Mike James, CSKA Moscow
"It was tough. They are a good team. They got new energy because they got a new coach. We needed to come out and win. We haven't been playing the best basketball of late, so it was good for us. It was not harder [playing against their defense]. A lot of people have been [pushing me left] this year, but I actually prefer going to the left a lot. It is just how people want to play me, I guess."
Kyle Hines, CSKA Moscow
"It wasn't an easy game. There are no easy games in the EuroLeague. We knew they were going to play with energy, with physicality, and they did that. But we were able to withstand all that and come out with a victory; that's the most important thing."