2013-14Top 16Round 2
CSKA Moscow 77
Zalgiris Kaunas 62
January 10, 2014 CET: 17:00
Local time: 20:00 USH CSKA

Fridzon, Teodosic lead CSKA past Zalgiris

In a battle between longtime sporting rivals, CSKA Moscow stayed undefeated in the Top 16 by downing Zalgiris Kaunas 77-62 in the Russian capital on Friday. CSKA improved to 2-0 in Group F, while Zalgiris dropped to 0-2. Vitaly Fridzon paced the winners with 15 points. Nenad Krstic added 12 while Milos Teodosic and Sonny Weems each had 11 in an easy win for CSKA, which led from start to finish. Weems also dished 5 assists for the victors, whose defense forced Zalgiris into 18 turnovers. Justin Dentmon led Zalgiris with 22 points. Krstic led a 12-3 opening run which allowed CSKA to keep a 22-14 lead after 10 minutes. An outstanding Dentmon singlehandedly brought Zalgiris within 37-31 at halftime. However Teodosic took over in the third quarter and CSKA broke the game open, 62-44. Zalgiris kept trying, but the CSKA fans had plenty of time to celebrate a big win.

First quarter: CSKA jumps out to early lead

Zalgiris head coach Saulius Stombergas surprised everyone by starting twin point guards - Sarunas Jasikevicius and Dentmon – for the first time this season. Krstic got CSKA going with a dunk and a three-pointer by Fridzon gave the hosts a 5-0 lead. Fridzon sank a mid-range jumper that Dentmon bettered with a triple. Teodosic answered from downtown and a jump hook by Krstic saw Zalgiris call timeout at 12-3. Fridzon scored again, but Jasikevicius followed a three-pointer with his trademark stop-and-pop jumper to give Zalgiris hope at 14-8. Paulius Jankunas further trimmed the gap when he banked in a driving shot. Krstic dunked again before an off-balance basket by Ksistof Lavrinovic brought the guests within 16-12. Weems swished a six-meter jumper, as CSKA improved its defense with Kyle Hines and Aaron Jackson on court. Lavrinovic made free throws. Weems nailed a close jumper and a jump hook by Sasha Kaun boosted CSKA's lead to 22-14 after 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Dentmon keeps Zalgiris alive

CSKA kept powering the offensive glass early in the second quarter, as Andrey Vorontsevich finished a long, two-chance offense with a bomb from downtown. Aaron Jackson fed Kaun for a dunk that gave the hosts a 27-14 margin. Dentmon made free throws before Fridzon nailed his second three-pointer. Zalgiris struggled to score without Dentmon on court. Weems fed Krstic for a slam that made it a 15-point game. After Tadas Klimavicius dunked, Victor Khryapa hit a baseline jumper. A wild driving layup by Tomas Dimsa kept Zalgiris within 34-21. Khryapa downed a three-pointer from the top of the key, but Dentmon answered from downtown, which caused CSKA coach Ettore Messina to call timeout. The hosts kept struggling to score, however, and a free throw by Jankunas brought Zalgiris a bit closer. Then Dentmon nailed a pair of three-pointers to get Zalgiris within 37-31 at the break.

Third quarter: Teodosic shines, CSKA takes off

Robertas Javtokas made free throws immediately after the break, but Krstic matched those with a layup. Fridzon kept leading CSKA with a steal and a corner three-pointer that gave his team fresh air at 42-33. Weems nailed his trademark step-back jumper, but Arturas Milaknis answered with a fast break layup off a steal. Lavrinovic fired in one from downtown and free throws by Jasikevicius brought Zalgiris as close as 46-40. Kaun stepped up with a jump hook. Jasikevicius sank an off-balance jumper and Teodosic restored a 50-42 CSKA lead. Teodosic kept pacing the hosts with a layup-plus-foul and a great bounce assist to Jackson, whose layup gave CSKA a 13-point margin. Zalgiris called a much-needed timeout, but Vorontsevich capped a 9-0 CSKA run with a reverse layup. Javtokas scored around the basket but an unstoppable Teodosic struck from downtown and Kaun added a layup to give CSKA a 62-44 lead at the end of the quarter.

Fourth quarter: CSKA seals win early

Dentmon tried to ignite a Zalgiris comeback with a three-point play early in the fourth quarter. CSKA struggled to score for more than two minutes but its man-to-man defense kept the Russian powerhouse way ahead. Weems rescued CSKA with a six-meter jumper, but a three-point play by Javtokas kept Zalgiris within 64-50. Fridzon downed a mid-range jumper. Dentmon swished an off-balance shot, but a close basket by Kyle Hines gave CSKA a 68-52 margin with less than six minutes left. Jankunas and Vorontsevich traded layups. Dentmon scored again before a dunk by Vorontsevich saw Zalgiris call timeout at 72-56. Weems nailed a wide-open triple. Even though Javtokas and Jankunas tried to change things for Zalgiris, Hines dunked for a 77-59 CSKA margin. Nothing changed in the final three minutes, as CSKA added a big home win and Zalgiris returned home knowing it has to bounce back to improve its chances to go past the Top 16.

Milos Teodosic - CSKA Moscow - EB13
Friday, January 10, 2014
Euroleague.net
Referees: PEREZ, MIGUEL ANGEL; HERCEG, SINISA; NURAN, RUSTU
Attendance: 4307 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow22152515
Zalgiris Kaunas14171318
End of Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow22376277
Zalgiris Kaunas14314462
CSKA Moscow
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 TEODOSIC, MILOS 20:59 11 2/2 2/3 1/1   1 1 2   2     2 2 11
5 MICOV, VLADIMIR 14:42   0/2 0/1   2   2 1         3   -3
7 FRIDZON, VITALY 28:43 15 3/7 3/3   1 1 2 3 2 3 1 1 1 1 15
9 JACKSON, AARON 17:21 2 1/4 0/2 0/1 3 1 4 3   1   1 2   -1
11 PARGO, JEREMY 4:36   0/1           1              
12 KRSTIC, NENAD 17:29 12 5/11   2/3 2 4 6 1 1 1     1 2 13
13 WEEMS, SONNY 31:34 11 4/10 1/3   2 3 5 5 1 1     3 2 12
14 ZOZULIN, ALEKSEY 2:05                              
20 VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY 17:20 9 3/3 1/4                   1 1 6
24 KAUN, SASHA 18:37 8 4/6     1 4 5   2 1 1   1 1 13
31 KHRYAPA, VICTOR 17:40 5 1/1 1/3 0/2   3 3 2 1 1     2 5 9
42 HINES, KYLE 8:54 4 2/3     1 2 3 1   1 1   1 1 7
Team             4 4               4
Totals 200:00 77 25/50 8/19 3/7 12 23 35 19 7 11 3 2 17 15 86
        50% 42.1% 42.9%
Head coach: MESSINA, ETTORE
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
Zalgiris Kaunas
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 CIZAUSKAS, VYTENIS 8:36 3 0/1 1/2     2 2 2             5
5 GUDAITIS, ARTURAS 2:17   0/1       1 1                
6 JOGELA, TAURAS DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 KLIMAVICIUS, TADAS 9:08 2 1/4     1 2 3   1 1         2
13 JANKUNAS, PAULIUS 20:55 7 3/7 0/1 1/2 3 5 8   1 2 1   4 1 6
15 JAVTOKAS, ROBERTAS 30:52 8 2/6 0/1 4/5 2 5 7 1 1 4 1 1 4 3 6
19 JASIKEVICIUS, SARUNAS 25:03 9 2/6 1/3 2/2   1 1 2   4   1   1 2
20 VECVAGARS, KASPARS 14:37     0/1         2         1 1 1
21 MILAKNIS, ARTURAS 24:26 2 1/1 0/3   2 1 3 1 1           4
23 DIMSA, TOMAS 13:43 2 1/1 0/1   2   2           1   2
33 LAVRINOVIC, KSISTOF 16:48 7 1/1 1/3 2/3   1 1     3     2 3 3
55 DENTMON, JUSTIN 33:35 22 3/7 4/7 4/4 1 6 7 2   1   1 4 8 26
Team           1 1 2     3         -1
Totals 200:00 62 14/35 7/22 13/16 12 25 37 10 4 18 2 3 16 17 56
        40% 31.8% 81.3%
Head coach: STOMBERGAS, SAULIUS

Head Coaches

MESSINA, ETTORE
CSKA Moscow
"We demonstrated a good team effort with the exception of the last 5 minutes when we lost focus and organization on the floor. Still overall we played a great game with a good number of assists and decent defense. We are happy with this win and we hope to come focused and motivated to our next games. "
STOMBERGAS, SAULIUS
Zalgiris Kaunas
"We played against a strong team, one of the favorites to win the Euroleague this year. But we did not have several players because of injuries. Still I think we had negative and positive moments; at least we won two quarters. We could not play consistently, allowing several easy baskets without at least trying to foul the opponent. We looked asleep in the very beginning and we let CSKA run away in the third quarter. Our other problem was that we are short on the 3-spot, so we had to play our young guys or to play small ball. And that does not allow you to create something under the basket, so we had bad two-point percentages. At the same time I think we fought well, we had more rebounds and made our free throws."

Players

FRIDZON, VITALY
CSKA Moscow
"In the first half, the team relaxed a little bit, but in the third quarter we came out and answered the question about the game winner. We just felt powerful, made some shots and reached our goal. "
DENTMON, JUSTIN
Zalgiris Kaunas
"To me there was no doubt; the team came out to win the game. We were bad in the first quarter, which is always our problem. Then we came out the first half on offense pretty well, then missed a lot of shots. We are just trying to bring us back to ourselves and we’re gonna improve the game and practice more."