2019-20Regular SeasonRound 15
December 20, 2019 CET: 18:30
Local time: 20:30 SINAN ERDEM SPORTS HALL.

CSKA edges Efes for a statement road win

In a thrilling rematch of last season's Championship Game that went down to the wire, Mike James hit a game-winner to lift defending champion CSKA Moscow to an 80-81 win over Anadolu Efes Istanbul at a packed Sinan Erdem Dome on Friday night. The win improved CSKA to 10-5, while Efes had its eight-game winning streak snapped to drop to 12-3 for a share of first place in the standings. Efes spent the majority of the night in front, and led by as many as 11 points late in the third quarter, but CSKA quickly erased the deficit. There were two ties and five lead changes in the final five minutes, and James hit a jumper with 17 seconds remaining to decide the winner. James finished with 28 points, making 5-of-5 two-point shots and 5-of-7 three-pointers, along with 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Kyle Hines collected 16 points and 6 rebounds, Johannes Voigtmann scored 15 and Darrun Hilliard had 10 points in victory. Krunoslav Simon paced Efes with 21 points, and Shane Larkin scored 18 points. Rodrigue Beaubois scored 10 points in a loss.

CSKA started the game on fire, with Voigtmann connecting twice from downtown, and James adding a triple and fastbreak layup to open a 4-11 lead. Larkin got himself going with a triple, but James hit twice more from long range to put CSKA up 11-19. However, Larkin replied with a pair of triples of his own, before Dogus Balbay hit a half-court buzzer-beater to cut it to 22-23 after 10 minutes. Efes continued making shots in the second quarter, with back-to-back long-range daggers from Beaubois giving the hosts their first lead, 30-27. The hosts did not stop there. Balbay had a corner triple, and Sertac Sanli scored twice, including a fastbreak dunk he facilitated to open a 39-31 lead. But James had his fourth triple, and Voigtmann added a three-point play to halve the deficit, before Hilliard's three-pointer cut it to 43-41. Efes took 47-43 into halftime and then Simon hit a triple, but Hines scored layups on three consecutive trips down the floor to make it 52-50. Simon knocked down another triple and added a pair of close-range baskets for Efes to restore breathing room, 61-52. The scoring slowed down, and a dunk by Pleiss opened the first double-digit lead of the game late in the third quarter, 66-55. But Joel Bolomboy dunked to close the third quarter and open the fourth, before Voigtmann's triple to cut it to 66-64. Beaubois snapped a 0-9 run with a jumper and Larkin hit a three-pointer, but James answered with a layup-plus-foul and a transition triple on consecutive possessions before a dunk by Hines capped a 0-8 run to give CSKA its first lead of the second half, 74-76. Simon restored Efes’ lead with a three-pointer, James replied with a three-point play, before Larkin scored in traffic but missed a free throw. The teams entered the final minute tied at 79-79. Then Pleiss split free throws, and James hit a jumper to put CSKA in front. Efes had a final possession: Larkin took the ball, went to his left and shot a baseline jumper that hit the front rim, signaling the CSKA players to start celebrating a huge road win.

Mike James shines

Mike James had another stellar scoring night - not only scoring 28 points, but also coming up huge in clutch time. The reigning Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy winner scored 10 of CSKA’s final 13 points over the final five minutes. He had a driving layup-plus-foul, a three-pointer, banked a floater and hit a mid-range jumper to lift CSKA to victory.

CSKA defense steps up

Efes scored 47 point in the first half, making 8-of-12 three-pointers. But over the final two quarters, CSKA allowed just 33 points and held Efes to 4-for-12 three-point shooting. CSKA’s defensive effort held the hosts to just 1 assist in the third, and 1 in the fourth quarter.

Key stats

CSKA had 16 turnovers, almost double Efes (9), and the hosts hit 12 threes to CSKA's 9, but CSKA outrebounded the hosts 28-38, had more assists (11-16), and CSKA had 7 blocks while Efes did not block a single shot.

Streak goes on

CSKA has now won 10 consecutive games against Efes, a run of victories that dates back to February 2013. Efes will have another shot to snap this streak pretty soon, in the first week of February 2020.

A chance missed

Efes now has a 5-2 record on its home floor this season, while being 7-1 on the road. With just its third defeat in 15 games, the Turkish team missed a chance to match its best-ever EuroLeague start.

Next up

Next week in Round 16 both teams will be at home to close out the action this calendar year. CSKA will welcome AX Armani Exchange Milan and former coach Ettore Messina on Thursday, and the same day Efes will host Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv.

Mike James - CSKA Moscow - EB19
Friday, December 20, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: LOTTERMOSER, ROBERT; JAVOR, DAMIR; VILIUS, GYTIS
Attendance: 15173
By Quarter1234
Anadolu Efes Istanbul22251914
CSKA Moscow23201622
End of Quarter1234
Anadolu Efes Istanbul22476680
CSKA Moscow23435981
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 31:57 18 3/7 4/7 0/1       4 2 2   1 1 6 18
1 BEAUBOIS, RODRIGUE 23:57 10 1/6 2/4 2/2   2 2 1 1     1 3 3 6
2 SINGLETON, CHRIS 35:03 5 2/5 0/1 1/2 3 3 6   2       4 4 8
4 BALBAY, DOGUS 11:13 6   2/2     1 1 1 2       1   9
15 SANLI, SERTAC 19:17 8 4/7     1 1 2   1 1   1 1 1 6
18 MOERMAN, ADRIEN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
19 TUNCER, BUGRAHAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 PLEISS, TIBOR 18:52 8 2/6   4/6 1 4 5   2 2   3   3 7
22 MICIC, VASILIJE 21:48 2 1/1 0/4   1 1 2 3   4     2 2 -1
23 ANDERSON, JAMES 0:20                              
25 PETERS, ALEC 6:05 2 0/1 0/1 2/2       1       1 1 1  
44 SIMON, KRUNOSLAV 31:28 21 4/8 4/5 1/1 1 4 5 1 1       3 2 22
Team           5   5               5
Totals 200:00 80 17/41 12/24 10/14 12 16 28 11 11 9 0 7 16 22 80
        41.5% 50% 71.4%
Head coach: ATAMAN, ERGIN
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 14:21 4 2/3 0/1   1 2 3     1     2   2
5 JAMES, MIKE 32:28 28 5/5 5/7 3/4 1 5 6 4   3     1 5 36
11 ANTONOV, SEMEN 14:48 4 2/3     2   2       3   2   6
13 STRELNIEKS, JANIS 11:17 4 1/2   2/2   2 2 1 1 1     2 2 6
17 VOIGTMANN, JOHANNES 30:08 15 2/4 3/4 2/3   5 5 2   1 1   3 3 18
20 VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY 6:34   0/1 0/2   1 2 3   1 1 1   1    
23 HACKETT, DANIEL 18:31   0/2 0/4     2 2 6 1 3     3   -3
31 KOUFOS, KOSTA DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
32 HILLIARD, DARRUN 16:50 10 2/2 1/4 3/4   1 1   1 3     1 3 7
41 KURBANOV, NIKITA 20:07   0/2 0/3     1 1 2         3 1 -4
42 HINES, KYLE 26:28 16 8/10     5 1 6     2 2   4 1 17
84 BAKER, RON 8:28   0/2     1 1 2 1   1       1 1
Team           4 1 5               5
Totals 200:00 81 22/36 9/25 10/13 15 23 38 16 4 16 7 0 22 16 91
        61.1% 36% 76.9%
Head coach: ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS

Head Coaches

ATAMAN, ERGIN
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
“Mike James had a super game, an excellent game, and CSKA played very smart. They played good basketball. My players gave great hustle, despite being tired. But this is basketball. We lost in the last second, but I believe tonight we had very bad coaching. I take all the responsibility for this game. I don't know why, but I feel very bad today. So that is all.”
ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
CSKA Moscow
"I am very happy, and pleased for sure. We showed character, I think my team deserves all congratulations. We need each and every one who steps on the court to bring something, and I think we had exactly that. Semen Antonov came off the bench and in deep rotation brought something, Mike James played definitely a great game. We had a concrete strategy on what to do. We played against a great team, a team that stayed the same from last season when they made the finals, and added two players to that group. I gave them a lot of credit before the game and I still believe they play good basketball. That is EuroLeague, you cannot underestimate or overestimate nobody. You got to go game by game. We need time, we are a new team. We are trying to build good bones. I think we are there. Time has to work with us, but let's be honest, it would be great to grow up with some wins. Congratulations to my team, but congratulation to Efes, as well."

Players

JAMES, MIKE
CSKA Moscow
"It was fun. They are a good team obviously, they have been playing good for two years now. Really really at a high level. We knew it was going to be a competition tonight, we just came ready to play. Efes is a good team, but I was able to get open shots and open looks and take advantage of them."
HINES, KYLE
CSKA Moscow
"It was an important road win for us. Efes has been playing very well, dominating for the most part of the EuroLeague season. It is great for us to build confidence, and for us to see progress throughout this long marathon of the EuroLeague season. We gave up [80] points, but I think the biggest thing is we got key defensive stops when we needed them the most. That's been the difference tonight versus some other games. In the clutch moments, last two minutes of the game, we got big stops. That shows the growth and hopefully the maturation of our team."