2019-20Regular SeasonRound 11
FC Barcelona 67
CSKA Moscow 96
November 29, 2019 CET: 21:00
Local time: 21:00 PALAU BLAUGRANA

CSKA gets huge road win in Barcelona

CSKA Moscow bounced back from recent losses by thrashing host FC Barcelona 67-96 at Palau Blaugrana on Friday. CSKA improved to 7-4 in the standings while Barcelona dropped to 8-3. Mike James led the winners with 14 points. Darrun Hilliard added 13, Nikita Kurbanov and Kyle Hines each had 12, while Janis Strelnieks and Johannes Voigtmann got 10 apiece for CSKA. Brandon Davies and Nikola Mirotic led Barcelona with 19 points each and Adam Hanga had 10 for the hosts. Voigtmann stepped up early to give CSKA a 6-10 lead but Mirotic and Pierre Oriola fueled a 7-0 run that allowed Barcelona to get a 20-18 lead after 10 minutes. Joel Bolomboy and Strelnieks rescued CSKA, then an outstanding Kurbanov allowed CSKA to get a 38-51 margin at halftime. CSKA kept excelling on defense after the break and found new go-to guys in Daniel Hackett, Andrey Voronstevich and Hilliard to seal the outcome, 50-76, at the end of the third quarter. Barcelona kept trying but CSKA had cruised to a well-deserved road win.

Hines and Mirotic traded jumpers to get their teams going, then Hanga scored in penetration for a 4-2 Barcelona lead. CSKA ran its offense through Voigtmann, who followed a layup with a triple for a 4-7 edge. Hanga and Kurbanov exchanged dunks, then Rolands Smits hit a jump hook to get Barcelona within 8-10. Mirotic struck from downtown and Cory Higgins added a driving layup, but Hilliard and an unstoppable Voigtmann restored a 13-15 CSKA lead. Mirotic and Davies fueled a 7-0 run that Oriola capped with a three-point play for a 20-15 Barcelona lead. A three-pointer by Hilliard fixed the score at 20-18 after 10 minutes. CSKA's backup frontcourt, Bolomboy and Vorontsevich, joined forces to give the guests a 21-23 edge early in the second quarter. Davies followed a tip-in with a jumper but Semen Antonov and Strelnieks answered for a 25-27 CSKA lead. Bolomboy scored down low, Strelnieks sank a triple and James found his first points to boost the guests' lead to 28-35. Higgins ignited the crowd with a big dunk, then got help from Mirotic and Delaney to keep Barcelona within 34-37. Kurbanov followed a dunk with a three-pointer and Hines soon made it a double-digit game, 36-46. Kurbanov struck again from downtown and Hackett added a layup to boost CSKA's lead to 38-51 at halftime. Mirotic took over with 5 quick points soon after the break to get the crowd involved at 43-51. But James and Kurbanov led a 0-6 run that kept CSKA way ahead, 43-57. James struck from way downtown, Hackett scored again and Vorontsevich sank a jumper that made it a 16-point game, 48-64. Hackett and Vorontsevich kept pacing the guests, Bolomboy scored down low and Hilliard sank a buzzer-beating three-pointer to break the game open, 50-76, after 30 minutes. The outcome was clear but both teams kept fighting for points differential. Davies led a 7-0 Barcelona run but James buried a huge triple for a 57-79 CSKA lead. James got help from Strelnieks to make it 61-86 midway through the fourth quarter, allowing CSKA to celebrate a big road win way in advance.

Pivotal performer

Kurbanov did a little bit of everything and played his best basketball when CSKA started to get a significant lead. He finished the game with 12 points by making 3 of 5 two-pointers and 2 of 2 threes, added 4 assists, 4 steals and 2 rebounds for a team-best PIR of 19.

Game-changing moment

CSKA led 34-37 late in the first half but improved its defense over the next 4 minutes. Meanwhile, an outstanding Kurbanov dunked and sank a couple of triples, Hines added 4 quick points and by the time Hackett scored around the basket, CSKA led 38-51 edge at halftime. Barcelona never recovered, and CSKA kept full control of the game after the break and until the final buzzer.

Stellar stat

CSKA finished the game with a season-high 24 assists, 10 more than Barcelona. Three-point shots made the difference in this game, too. CSKA hit 14 of 30 from downtown (46.7%) and Barcelona made just 2 of 18 attempts. That 11.1% three-point rate is the club's lowest in the EuroLeague since January 11, 2013 against Olympiacos Piraeus, when Barca's tally was 1-for-9.

Did you notice?

Speaking on shots from beyond the arc, it took Hines 264 career games -- and four championships -- but he finally hit his first three-pointer in EuroLeague action. Hines buried it from the top of the key with 3:13 left in the game. It was just the seventh three-point attempt of his career and his second this season. He missed from downtown was against FC Bayern Munich in Round 2.

Next game:

In Round 12, CSKA hosts archrivals Zalgiris Kaunas on Thursday, December 5. A day later, Barcelona visits Khimki Moscow Region.

Mike James - CSKA Moscow - EB19
Friday, November 29, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: RYZHYK, BORYS; PUKL,SASA; HORDOV, TOMISLAV
Attendance: 7002
By Quarter1234
FC Barcelona20181217
CSKA Moscow18332520
End of Quarter1234
FC Barcelona20385067
CSKA Moscow18517696
FC Barcelona
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 DAVIES, BRANDON 21:42 19 8/11 0/1 3/3 1 3 4 1 5 1     2 2 24
5 RIBAS, PAU 13:22   0/1 0/1         2              
8 HANGA, ADAM 19:26 10 4/4 0/3 2/2 1 6 7 2   1     3 1 13
10 SMITS, ROLANDS 20:15 4 2/3 0/1   2 3 5 1   1 1   1   7
14 PUSTOVYI, ARTEM 3:44   0/1     1   1     1         -1
18 ORIOLA, PIERRE 18:00 4 1/2   2/3 2   2           2 3 5
21 ABRINES, ALEX 1:56                         2   -2
22 HIGGINS, CORY 19:59 4 2/2 0/2             3     2 2 -1
23 DELANEY, MALCOLM 26:11 5 2/3 0/3 1/4   3 3 6 1 5     2 3 4
24 KURIC, KYLE 18:51 2 0/4   2/2       1 1         2 2
33 MIROTIC, NIKOLA 22:00 19 3/3 2/7 7/9   2 2 1   1     1 5 18
44 TOMIC, ANTE 14:34   0/4               3     3   -10
Team           1 3 4               4
Totals 200:00 67 22/38 2/18 17/23 8 20 28 14 7 16 1 0 18 18 63
        57.9% 11.1% 73.9%
Head coach: PESIC, SVETISLAV
Min: Minutes played; Pts: Points; 2FG M-A: 2-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); 3FG M-A: 3-point Field Goals (Made-Attempted); FT M-A: Free Throws (Made-Attempted); Rebounds: O (Offensive), D (Defensive), T (Total); As: Assists; St: Steals; To: Turnovers; Bl: Blocks (Fv: In Favor / Ag: Against); Fouls: Cm (Commited), Rv (Received); PIR: Performance Index Rating
CSKA Moscow
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 BOLOMBOY, JOEL 16:05 6 2/3   2/2 2 3 5 1   3     2 2 8
5 JAMES, MIKE 27:07 14 4/5 2/6     4 4 6 1 4     2 4 18
11 ANTONOV, SEMEN 6:12 2     2/2                 1 1 2
13 STRELNIEKS, JANIS 24:54 10 1/2 2/3 2/2   3 3 5   1     2 2 15
17 VOIGTMANN, JOHANNES 25:41 10 1/2 2/5 2/2   5 5 3         3 1 12
20 VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY 14:19 8 2/2 1/3 1/2   1 1   1 2     2 2 5
23 HACKETT, DANIEL 19:55 9 3/4 1/4   2 1 3 1 1       2 3 11
31 KOUFOS, KOSTA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
32 HILLIARD, DARRUN 19:13 13 2/2 3/6   1 1 2 3   2     1   12
41 KURBANOV, NIKITA 21:01 12 3/5 2/2   1 1 2 4 4 1   1   1 19
42 HINES, KYLE 23:55 12 4/7 1/1 1/2 1 6 7 1   2     3 2 13
84 BAKER, RON 1:38                              
Team             1 1               1
Totals 200:00 96 22/32 14/30 10/12 7 26 33 24 7 15 0 1 18 18 116
        68.8% 46.7% 83.3%
Head coach: ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS

Head Coaches

PESIC, SVETISLAV
FC Barcelona
“Congratulations to CSKA for an excellent game. We didn’t play like usual, especially in transition. All the time we were one step back, all the time reacting not attacking, and we helped our opponent a lot because CSKA scored 30 transition points. Absolutely ridiculous in our gym. The basic way to control the rhythm of the game is to not allow fastbreak or transition points. Tonight they were very good, we didn’t have our night, and maybe we have won too many games. We have been fighting for two months with so many physical problems, and when you must play so many games it’s not an excuse but reality. We are always between illusion and reality. We know now that we must be in very good physical shape to compete. CSKA tonight dominated, first physically, and we didn’t have much opportunity to stop this rhythm of the game.”
ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
CSKA Moscow
“I would like to congratulate my team, we played a great game. We had the right mindset from the beginning. We had a lot of tasks to overcome the great quality Barcelona has. This is the EuroLeague – you cannot underestimate or overestimate anybody, you’ve got to be focussed. We shared the ball well, got boards, kept our composure in tough moments and the ranking – 116 to 63 – makes us proud of how we contained their creators and efficiency on offense. We won a lot of battles – rebounds, assists, we shot well, almost a perfect game. We involved everybody to share the ball, give something else on defense. We were very good today. We’ve got to continue but the most important thing, and what I said inside, is that we bounced back after two losses so that will give us a boost and get our confidence back. We’re a new team, still trying to build bonds between us, but we fought like one unit today. The fact we beat Barcelona on the road is important because they’re playing good basketball and have a lot of expectations. But it’s too early to talk about favorites [for the title]. I would rather go game by game. We’re still too early. With the results we have in EuroLeague, anything is possible. This year we changed some things. We’re a pretty good defensive team and we’re looking to be more smart. We’re there, we’ve played some good defensive games already. The fact we had five players in a double figures scoring and another couple close also says a lot.”

Players

RIBAS, PAU
FC Barcelona
"They were the better team from the beginning. It was unexpected. Having such a big difference in the scoreboard made us play anxious and rush things. We were frustrated for not being able to do things right and that was a key. They hit difficult shots in the final seconds. It is the first time that something like this happens this season. No worries, we have to learn from this."
JAMES, MIKE
CSKA Moscow
"I think we got good shots all night. I think we shared the ball and when you see a couple go in, momentum is on your side. The way we played today, we just played a full, complete game, and sometimes, when you play a good game, stuff just goes right. I think we just prepared and we had a bad week last week. We really wanted to come out here and, if not win, just show a good game, at least get back on track as far as our form. So I think we played good today and we won, obviously."
HINES, KYLE
CSKA Moscow
"I think that our mentality throughout the whole entire game was definitely the biggest key – our mindset. And then in that period – late in the first half – we were able to move the ball and take what the defense gave us. We shared the ball and made shots. We made shots, made big plays and even more importantly, defensively, we made stops. We were more physical, more aggressive, and I think that for us, this is always the most important key. Basketball is a game of runs, and we know that Barcelona is obviously a very talented team. We knew that they were going to make a run, especially in the third quarter, in the second half. Our whole goal was to withstand their run, play smart, play consistent basketball and we were able to do that. That was one of the important keys and made us win the game. I made my first three-point shot – after 10 years! If I make one in 10 years, it is not too bad. Not too bad at all! One my teammates said, 'If you are making threes, then everything is going right for us!' So it was a perfect night for us, a perfect game. A game that was much-needed for us, for our confidence, and a good morale booster."
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