2018-19Regular SeasonRound 14
CSKA Moscow 102
Anadolu Efes Istanbul 84
December 20, 2018 CET: 18:00
Local time: 20:00 MEGASPORT ARENA

CSKA overpowers Efes at home

In a high-scoring showdown, CSKA Moscow survived a tough test by topping Anadolu Efes Istanbul 102-84 in the Russian capital on Thursday. CSKA improved to 11-3 in the standing to remain in third place, while Efes dropped to 9-5 and remained fourth in the standings. Will Clyburn led the winners with 24 points and 11 rebounds, Nando De Colo added 21 points, Othello Hunter had 13 and Daniel Hackett 12 for CSKA. Rodriguez Beaubois paced Efes with 24 points, Brock Motum added 16 and Krunoslav Simon 11 for the visitors.

Vasilije Micic and Adrien Moerman got Efes going with consecutive layups, but De Colo and Hackett soon gave CSKA its first lead, 5-4. De Colo scored in penetration and Alec Peters added a put-back layup, but Beaubois struck three times from downtown for a 9-13 Efes edge. De Colo had 4 points in a 6-0 CSKA run that Beaubois stopped with his fourth triple. De Colo kept pushing CSKA with a behind-the-back assist for a Clyburn dunk and a big basket in the low post. Beaubois hit a floater, but Clyburn followed a triple with free throws for a 26-20 CSKA lead. A put-back layup by Clyburn and a corner three-pointer by De Colo boosted the hosts' lead to 31-24 after 10 minutes. Cory Higgins sank a triple early in the second quarter, but Motum brought Efes a bit closer, 34-30. It didn't last long, as Sergio Rodriguez, Kyle Hines and Clyburn fueled an 8-1 run that gave CSKA a 44-33 margin. Motum followed a three-pointer with a jump hook in a 0-8 run that Shane Larkin capped with a bomb from downtown to bring his team within 44-41. Hunter took over with a three-point play and consecutive dunks, but Simon and Micic brought the visitors within 52-48. Hackett stepped up with consecutive baskets, however, Moerman and Micic answered from downtown to bring Efes even closer, 56-54, at halftime. Hunter dunked twice right after the break. A driving layup by Beaubois and a triple by Simon made it a 1-point game. Nikita Kurbanov took over with a tip-in, which De Colo followed with a bomb from downtown. A layup by Clyburn gave CSKA fresh air at 67-61. A layup by Hackett soon caused Efes to stop the game at 71-64. Kurbanov and De Colo stayed on fire and a put-back layup by Clyburn gave CSKA a 77-68 lead after 30 minutes. Kurbanov buried one from beyond the arc early in the fourth quarter and an alley-oop dunk by Clyburn prompted Efes to call timeout at 82-68. Clyburn nailed a three-pointer that broke the game open, 85-68, with over six minutes left. Motum led a 0-7 Efes run, but Higgins and Hines answered as CSKA sealed the outcome with time to spare.

Pivotal performer

Kurbanov was all over the place on defense against Efes, getting 6 steals - twice as much as his previous career-high - to go with 9 points, 6 rebounds and 4 fouls drawn. Kurbanov finished the game with a performance index rating of 18.

Game-changing moment

Clyburn and Kurbanov combined for all the points in a 10-0 CSKA that bridged the last two quarters. It allowed CSKA to get an 82-65 lead and even though Efes kept fighting, the hosts were well on their way to a well-deserved win.

Stellar stat

CSKA outrebounded Efes 41-24 in this game, including 21 offensive boards. CSKA has not taken more than 20 offensive rebounds in a EuroLeague game since March 2004, in a game against Cibona. It tied the second-best mark in club history; CSKA had 24 offensive boards against Montepaschi Siena in November 2003.

Did you notice?

Rodriguez became the fifth player to reach 1,000 assists in EuroLeague history. He reached the milestone early in the fourth quarter when he found Clyburn for an alley-oop slam. Vassilis Spanoulis, Dimitris Diamantidis, Milos Teodosic and Thomas Heurtel reached 1,000 assists before him. Congratulations, 'Chacho'!

Next game

Both teams return to Turkish Airlines EuroLeague action next week. Efes visits FC Barcelona Lassa on Thursday. A day later, CSKA visits Panathinaikos OPAP Athens in a rematch of the 2007 and 2009 EuroLeague championship games.

Will Clyburn - CSKA Moscow - EB18
Thursday, December 20, 2018
Euroleague.net
Referees: PERUGA, CARLOS; MAJKIC, MARIO ; VILIUS, GYTIS
Attendance: 6316
By Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow31252125
Anadolu Efes Istanbul24301416
End of Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow315677102
Anadolu Efes Istanbul24546884
CSKA Moscow
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 DE COLO, NANDO 30:23 21 5/8 3/4 2/2 1 4 5 6 3 2     2 3 30
3 BOLOMBOY, JOEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
5 PETERS, ALEC 10:03 2 1/3 0/1   3 2 5 1   1     2   2
11 ANTONOV, SEMEN 1:38                              
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 15:12 8 3/4 0/1 2/2 1 2 3 4   4     1 1 9
21 CLYBURN, WILL 32:18 24 8/15 2/4 2/3 7 4 11 1 1 1   2 3 5 26
22 HIGGINS, CORY 18:29 9 3/8 1/1         1         4 1 2
23 HACKETT, DANIEL 24:48 12 3/4 1/4 3/5       6   1     2 5 14
30 KULAGIN, MIKHAIL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
41 KURBANOV, NIKITA 27:09 9 2/4 1/4 2/2 4 2 6 1 6 2     1 4 18
42 HINES, KYLE 14:29 4 2/3   0/1   1 1 1   1   1 1 1 2
44 HUNTER, OTHELLO 25:31 13 6/10   1/1 3 2 5 1 1     1 3 1 13
Team           2 3 5               5
Totals 200:00 102 33/59 8/19 12/16 21 20 41 22 11 12 0 4 19 21 121
        55.9% 42.1% 75%
Head coach: ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
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
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 LARKIN, SHANE 22:42 7 0/1 1/3 4/6   1 1 3   3     3 5 5
1 BEAUBOIS, RODRIGUE 31:39 24 5/7 4/6 2/2   1 1 2   2     2 2 21
4 BALBAY, DOGUS 5:14 2 1/1 0/1     1 1   1 1     1   1
6 BIRSEN, METECAN 1:02               1             1
12 MOTUM, BROCK 18:02 16 5/6 1/1 3/3 1 2 3   1         2 21
18 MOERMAN, ADRIEN 21:58 5 1/1 1/1     4 4 2 1 2     3 1 8
19 TUNCER, BUGRAHAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 PLEISS, TIBOR 16:45 6 3/4 0/1     1 1   2 1 2   4   4
22 MICIC, VASILIJE 21:32 7 1/2 1/6 2/2   2 2 5 2 3     2 3 8
23 ANDERSON, JAMES 16:35 4 0/2 1/2 1/2   1 1 2         1 2 4
42 DUNSTON, BRYANT 23:15 2 1/2 0/1   3 2 5 2   1 1   2 2 7
44 SIMON, KRUNOSLAV 21:16 11 0/1 3/5 2/2   2 2 1 1 3 1   3 2 9
Team           1 2 3     1         2
Totals 200:00 84 17/27 12/27 14/17 5 19 24 18 8 17 4 0 21 19 91
        63% 44.4% 82.4%
Head coach: ATAMAN, ERGIN

Head Coaches

ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
CSKA Moscow
"I would like to congratulate my team, obviously, after back-to-back games, playing against the leader (Fenerbahce) and the fourth-ranked team. Efes has shown a lot of potential and growth, and is in a position to threaten anyone. But I think that the game relies a lot on how my players changed their mindset in the second half, especially on the defensive end, and I also want to congratulate them for that. We got a lot of good stops, deflected passes, got on the boards and it is shown on the stats. We allowed 30 points in the second half, as many points as we gave up in the second quarter, in which we were not that good, and also in the first quarter, when they hit big shots. We chose to play different kinds of defenses in the second half, and in some of those they hit big shots, but that did not crack us. We had an even stronger mindset. So big congratulations to the team for how it bounced back after the game we had in Turkey a few days ago. We were controlling that game – we were plus 7 with 4 minutes left – and psychologically it was tough, also with the trip, so they deserve to be congratulated. This can only make us stronger and smarter, all this process. To be continued. I wish that we can stay healthy. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!"
ATAMAN, ERGIN
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
"Both teams showed great potential on offense in the first half. I was not happy with our performance defensively and talked about this at halftime, in the locker room, especially about rebounds. CSKA started to switch on man-to-man defense in the second half and they stopped our offense. We were not successful passing the ball inside, especially twice in the mismatching side that we were called for offensive fouls, we were not successful at passing the ball inside. Our offensive balance was destroyed. I think that the key of the game was rebounds. We got only 19 defensive rebounds and CSKA took 21 offensive rebounds. It is impossible to be competitive with this rebounds difference against a team like CSKA, with such offensive potential."

Players

HACKETT, DANIEL
CSKA Moscow
"We played against a team in a very good moment, with confidence, that plays high-level basketball with very good players in its roster. We knew this coming into the game. We were alerted by our coaching staff that this was going to be a tough one, especially 48 hours after playing against Fenerbahce, flying and preparing this game in just a few hours. We did a tremendous job in the second half, playing defense. We gave ourselves a lot of extra possessions with offensive rebounds and executed. It was a good game and we have to keep building from this."
HUNTER, OTHELLO
CSKA Moscow
"All games are tough. We had to bounce back from the Fenerbahce game. We had a tough loss there, so close to winning. There were a couple of plays in which we didn't execute. We wanted to bring our defense to another level and this is what we showed today – we played good defense. When we play against these guys, they are going to give their all, all the time. For us, it is one game at a time, trying to play as hard as we can. Play good defense – I don't know how many steals we had – and offensive rebounds. We just did a great job on defense."
DE COLO, NANDO
CSKA Moscow
"It is always tough to come back from a loss but the whole team was ready to play tonight. I think we all found the energy to play together. It is a great win. We need to keep working on it. We know it is a long season, so let's do it game by game."
CLYBURN, WILL
CSKA Moscow
"We wanted to just focus on coming out here and bringing as much energy as possible and try to get a win tonight. That has been our philosophy all year, get extra possessions from poor shots, and that is what we did tonight."