First goal is reached

CSKA vs. Baskonia Vitoria: 93-86 (+7)

CSKA: De Colo (8 + 3 rb + 7 as + 2 st + 3 to), Antonov (5 + 4 rb), Higgins (14 + 2 as), Kurbanov (11 + 2 st), Hines (8 + 5 rb + 2 st + 4 pf) – start; Rudd (0), Fridzon (0), Westermann (DNP), Rodriguez (17 + 3 as + 3 to), Vorontsevich (8 + 3 rb), Clyburn (19 + 5 rb + 2 as + 2 st + 3 to), Khryapa (3)…

Baskonia: Janning (10 + 5 pf), Diop (2 + 4 rb), Granger (26 + 3 rb + 5 as + 4 to), Shengelia (12 + 10 rb + 4 as + 4 to), Garino (3 + 3 rb + 3 as) – start; Vildoza (3), Timma (0), Voigtmann (8), Malmanis (DNP), Huertas (0), Beaubois (12 + 4 rb), Poirier (10 + 2 st)…

We had quite a long period with no games so we lacked some continuity, aggressiveness on both ends of the floor. Still we won three quarters and a whole game. We were a little bit better defensively in the second half. We played with more energy, we were smarter I would say. We were there to challenge the shots, ‘cause Baskonia shot 8 out of 10 [on three-point shots] in the first half, Granger was good, and they were 3 out of 9 in the second half, so we did contest most of the shots, we had a good rotation, we stole a couple of balls and we forced turnovers, which was good. It is a big number, 19 turnovers. Most of those turnovers were forced because of good defense. At the same time we remained on the same level offensively, we created a lot off the post game situations. We qualified for the playoffs officially,
and this is something I was saying in the beginning of the season – this EuroLeague is very tough, we secured the 8th spot with only 7 games left in the regular season. It was our first goal, the second will be to secure home-court advantage and then to go to the Final Four. I would like also to congratulate all Russians on tomorrow’s Men’s Day and to thank 9000 fans who helped us.