CSKA — Zenit, 24 January 2026

CSKA – Zenit Saint Petersburg: 93-90 (+3)

CSKA: Trimble (21 + 3 rb + 3 as), Ukhov (5), Antonov (13), Jean-Charles (10 + 7 rb + 5 as + 3 to), Kurbanov (2 + 5 rb + 2 as + 2 st + 2 bs) – start; Cleveland (2), Ware (16 + 2 as + 3 st), Ruzhentsev (6), Astapkovich (9 + 4 rb + 4 as), Karpenko (DNP), Chadov (2 + 4 rb), Mitrovic (7)…

Zenit: Frazier (9 + 4 rb + 7 as + 2 st), Martyuk (9 + 3 rb + 2 as + 4 pf), Zhbanov (17 + 8 rb + 2 st + 3 to), Randolph (14 + 4 as + 4 pf), Samanic (21 + 10 rb) – start; Roberson (5 + 4 rb + 2 as + 3 st + 3 to), Shcherbenev (0), Karasev (0), Uzinskiy (3), Krivykh (DNP), Vorontsevich (6 + 7 rb), Yemchenko (6 + 3 as + 4 pf)…

Andreas Pistiolis, CSKA Moscow head coach:

I'd like to start a bit unconventionally. My words at the last press conference were presented to the media in a wrong way. My exact words were that we thought we'd win simply because we were wearing a CSKA uniform. But it came across as if the players weren't worthy of wearing a CSKA jersey. I would never say that about my players, and I would never say that about a team that won the last two championships wearing that jerseys. Normally, in a situation like this, I would end the press conference and leave, but out of respect for all of you, I'll answer your questions.

For the second game in a row, we've lost control while leading by 18 points. This is something that concerns me as a coach. We need to understand, figure out what's going on, and how to correct these mistakes. We talked at halftime about how we can't score 120 points in this game and win that way. We need to improve our defense first and foremost. We've improved it, but not enough. I hope that we will improve and draw conclusions by the next game, because at some point we may pay dearly for this.