2019-20Regular SeasonRound 16
CSKA Moscow 78
AX Armani Exchange Milan 75
December 26, 2019 CET: 18:00
Local time: 19:00 SPORTS PALACE YANTARNY

Hackett, James lift CSKA over Milan

Daniel Hackett scored a career-high 28 points and Mike James dished 11 assists in leading CSKA Moscow past their former team AX Armani Exchange Milan 78-75 in the first-ever Turkish Airlines EuroLeague game in Kaliningrad on Thursday night. CSKA won its third straight game and improved to 11-5 and a share of fourth place, while Milan dropped to 8-8. Neither team held a double-digit lead in this game. Milan led 32-41 in the opening minute of the third quarter, but CSKA quickly erased the deficit and - led by downtown shooting from Hackett and Johannes Voigtmann - built a 74-65 lead before holding on for the victory. Hackett shot 6 for 9 from three-point land, another career-high, and also had 4 assists and 4 steals. James finished with 17 points, 11 assists and 6 rebounds, while Voigtmann collected 14 points and 8 rebounds. Arturas Gudaitis and Sergio Rodriguez scored 13 points apiece for Milan, Kaleb Tarczewski had a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebouds and Michael Roll netted 10 points in a losing effort.

CSKA took control early behind a triple from Voigtmann and a three-point play from Kyle Hines to open an 8-5 lead. Milan had four different scorers as Roll connected with a jumper and a runner on consecutive possessions, but Hackett scored 5 points, including a three-pointer, and Joel Bolomboy beat the buzzer with a fastbreak dunk to make it 19-13 after 10 minutes. Milan went inside often, first to Gudaitis and Luis Scola for close-range baskets, before Tarczewski strung together 7 points, including a basket-plus-foul, for a 0-12 run that Amedeo Della Valle capped with a second-chance three-pointer to make it 26-33. Milan held the hosts without a single point for almost 4 minutes and without a field goal for more than 6 minutes before Hackett hit a triple. Milan took a 32-39 advantage into halftime.

The visitors extended the lead to 9 points on the first possession of the third quarter. However, CSKA stormed back with Voigtmann hitting one and Hackett a pair of three-pointers from the right corner during a 13-0 run to put CSKA up 45-41. Vladimir Micov had a three-point play and Rodriguez a triple as the visitors went back in front. The two teams proceeded to trade leads. James hit a triple and a Darrun Hilliard a close-range basket that made it 59-54, but Milan answered by scoring the last 7 points of the quarter, with Rodriguez nailing a three-pointer and beating the buzzer with a jumper to make it 59-61 going into the fourth. Voigtmann and Hackett each hit a triple to put CSKA back in front before Hilliard had a pair of baskets. Hackett knocked down a transition triple that capped a 12-0 run and made it 74-65. Roll hit a jumper to stop the bleeding as Milan was not going away. The visitors did not allow another basket for more than 4 minutes and Rodriguez nailed a triple to cut it to 74-70. However, Hackett hit a floater to snap a CSKA drought and then scored a fastbreak layup to seal the outcome.

Historic occasion

Milan head coach Ettore Messina came to play against the club he led to two EuroLeague titles and a total of six Final Fours in as many years, but not in Moscow. This clash happened to be the first-ever EuroLeague game played in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave of nearly 1 million people located on the Baltic Sea coast between Lithuania and Poland.

Key second-half runs

CSKA made its first big run early in the third quarter, a 13-0 charge that turned a 32-41 deficit into a 45-41 lead. Then again early in the fourth, a 12-0 run put the hosts up 74-65, giving them lead for good.

Beating their former team

This marked the fourth time this season a CSKA player hit 6 three-pointers in a game, following what Mike James has done twice and Darrun Hilliard once earlier this season. Hackett made the same number of three-pointers as the entire Milan team, his former club, which shot 6 for 21 on the night. For Hackett, 6 triples made and 9 attempted are both career-highs. Mike James, who arrived to CSKA from Milan this summer, had his first double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 assists, coming 1 assist shy of his career-best.

Streak goes on

CSKA has enjoyed clear dominance over Milan in recent years, now winning their last nine meetings. It is a streak that dates back to November 2010. Milan will have another shot at snapping this losing run in Round 34.

Next up

Both teams are done with EuroLeague action for 2019. Round 17 next week will take place in 2020. CSKA remains in Kaliningrad to host Panathinaikos OPAP Athens on Friday. That same evening Milan will welcome Zenit St Petersburg.

Daniel Hackett - CSKA Moscow - EB19
Thursday, December 26, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: HIERREZUELO, DANIEL; BELOSEVIC, ILIJA; PETEK, SASO
Attendance: 6522
By Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow19132719
AX Armani Exchange Milan13262214
End of Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow19325978
AX Armani Exchange Milan13396175
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 9:06 4 2/3       2 2               5
5 JAMES, MIKE 35:38 17 3/8 1/6 8/9 1 5 6 11 1 3     1 8 28
11 ANTONOV, SEMEN 2:03   0/1       1 1           1   -1
13 STRELNIEKS, JANIS 11:15 2     2/2                 1 1 2
17 VOIGTMANN, JOHANNES 32:27 14 2/3 3/8 1/3 3 5 8   1 1 1   3 2 14
20 VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY 5:58     0/2                   1   -3
23 HACKETT, DANIEL 33:27 28 4/9 6/9 2/2   1 1 4 4 2   2 3 5 27
31 KOUFOS, KOSTA 4:57   0/1     3 2 5           2 1 3
32 HILLIARD, DARRUN 16:52 8 3/5   2/3   4 4     1   1 1 1 7
41 KURBANOV, NIKITA 19:36 2   0/3 2/2 2 3 5     2 1   2 2 3
42 HINES, KYLE 27:32 3 1/5   1/1 2 4 6 2 1 1 1 2 3 1 4
84 BAKER, RON 1:09                   1         -1
Team           2 1 3               3
Totals 200:00 78 15/35 10/28 18/22 13 28 41 17 7 11 3 5 18 21 91
        42.9% 35.7% 81.8%
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
AX Armani Exchange Milan
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
00 DELLA VALLE, AMEDEO 5:50 3 0/1 1/1                   1   1
5 MICOV, VLADIMIR 27:05 5 2/5 0/2 1/3   3 3 3 2     1 2 3 6
6 BILIGHA, PAUL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 GUDAITIS, ARTURAS 20:55 13 3/6 1/1 4/5 1 2 3 2     1 1 2 5 17
9 MORASCHINI, RICCARDO 14:40 6 2/3   2/3   1 1   1       1 1 6
10 ROLL, MICHAEL 22:47 10 5/5 0/3     5 5 2         1 1 14
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 27:30 13 2/6 3/5     2 2 2 1 2     4 1 7
15 TARCZEWSKI, KALEB 24:07 11 5/9   1/1 4 6 10 3 1 2 3   2 3 23
16 NEDOVIC, NEMANJA 16:39 7 2/4 1/4             2   1   2 1
30 WHITE, AARON 15:42     0/2   1 4 5 2 1       1   5
32 BROOKS, JEFF 11:39               1   2 1   3   -3
40 SCOLA, LUIS 13:06 7 2/4 0/3 3/4   1 1 1 1 2     4 2  
Team           3 1 4     1         3
Totals 200:00 75 23/43 6/21 11/16 9 25 34 16 7 11 5 3 21 18 80
        53.5% 28.6% 68.8%
Head coach: MESSINA, ETTORE

Head Coaches

ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
CSKA Moscow
"First of all, Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates now. Second, congratulations to my team. We had a good opening, we read the mismatches and zone defense, we punished for everything that was given to us. We kept Milan low-scoring during the first quarter when they had just 13 points. Still, it was obvious that some players were hesitant in several moments. And that gave an effect in the second quarter, when we scored only 13 points, though credit should be also given to Olimpia’s defense. We changed our mindset in halftime. The defense of Milan was adjusted to Mike’s skills, they were constantly sending a second defender to guard him, so we had to find open looks. Dani had a great night, shooting, creating, defending. Johannes supported him, Mike still had a double-double. Even though we gave up 5 quick points at the end of the quarter, we continued to execute our plan and we kept the lead. We had just 3 turnovers in the second half, which was important. It was not our best game, but you need to win those games. It was full of strategy and composure from our side. It was a full gym here, the support from Kaliningrad fans was on the highest level. I thank them from my heart."
MESSINA, ETTORE
AX Armani Exchange Milan
"Congratulations to CSKA. They played a good second half and managed to change the game. Still, I am happy with my team. I think we are getting better every day to become closer to the teams like CSKA and Real Madrid. Also, I think that Dani Hackett, who I really love, was a key factor in tonight’s game. He was making good decisions – to shoot, to pass, to create – and he obviously had a great shooting night."

Players

HINES, KYLE
CSKA Moscow
"It was a great atmosphere. Thank you to the fans and everybody that came out, they pushed us and it was great to see how many people showed up. We are happy to pull out a big win for them. Dani Hackett is a great player. He is who he is, he always steps up in big moments, he steps up in clutch moments. We know who he is. It is not a surprise for any of us. Big players make big plays in big moments, and that is Dani Hackett. "
HACKETT, DANIEL
CSKA Moscow
"First of all, it was a good team win. We struggled in the first half to read their matchup zone and we were thinking too much. Second half, it was much better. I want to thank my teammates and my coaching staff for sticking with me. They believe in me, they train me hard and allow me to perform like this. The guys got me in a good rhythm, I was able to make some shots, but this does not matter. It matters that we won the game against a good Milan team and now we have to look forward to the next game."
JAMES, MIKE
CSKA Moscow
"We played hard, we fought hard. In the second half, we definitely picked it up. We started being more aggressive as a team and it worked out for us. It was a home game, we treated it like a home game and we won, that's all that is important."