CSKA Moscow rocked Brose Baskets Bamberg 94-74
CSKA Moscow took the big showdown between undefeated teams in Group B by downing Brose Baskets 94-74 in the Russian capital on Wednesday. CSKA went up to 2-0 before playing back-to-back road games in this group. Brose dropped to 1-1 and faces a critical showdown against Unicaja next week. Nenad Krstic paced the winners with 19 points on 9-of-9 two-pointers. Andrey Vorontsevich added 13 while Andrei Kirilenko had 12 and 6 assists for CSKA. Tibor Pleiss led Brose with 17 points. Julius Jenkins added 15 while PJ Tucker had 10 for the guests. An outstanding Kirilenko and a three-pointer by Vorontsevich helped CSKA to get a 24-14 lead after 10 minutes. CSKA found a new go-to guy in Krstic, who became a dominant force in the paint throughout the second quarter and allowed the hosts to get a 47-30 margin at halftime. Nothing changed after the break, as CSKA kept a safe lead, boosted its margin to 77-53 with 8 minutes to go and never looked back.
CSKA tried to play very aggressive from the very beginning and drew 3 fouls in the opening minute. Milos Teodosic got the hosts going with a five-meter jumper and a
left-handed layup by Kirilenko soon gave CSKA a 4-0 lead. Kirilenko kept pacing CSKA with a bomb from downtown that made Brose call timeout at 7-0. Brian
Roberts nailed a triple, as Brose tried to slow down the game tempo. Krstic scored down low that Gavel matched with a long jumper that brought the guests within
9-5. Kirilenko made free throws but another three-pointer by Roberts kept Brose as close as 11-8. Teodosic answered from downtown and foul shots by Kirilenko and
Viktor Khryapa kept CSKA out of trouble, 16-8. Tucker and Jenkins hit free throws a layup-plus-foul by Krstic kept CSKA way ahead, 19-12. Predrag Suput hit
free throws but Sasha Kaun and a corner triple by Vorontsevich made it a double-digit game, 24-14, after 10 minutes.
Jenkins sank free throws early in the second quarter, as CSKA tried to find a new go-to guy with Kirilenko resting on the bench. Pleiss scored down low and soon
added a mid-range jumper but back-to-back baskets by Kaun made CSKA get a 28-20 margin. Pleiss stayed on fire with a backdoor layup but Jamont Gordon sent the crowd to
their feet with a wild put-back slam. Casey Jacobsen struck from downtown - his first points - but CSKA improved its defense midway through this quarter. Meanwhile,
Krstic scored twice in the paint in a 10-0 run that Kirilenko capped with a two-handed dunk, good for a 40-25 CSKA lead. Suput tried to change things with free throws
but Khryapa fed Krstic for another easy basket. Sammy Mejia downed a stop-and-pop jumper but Roberts and Kirilenko traded foul shots for a 45-28 score. Krstic dunked
it and free throws by Pleiss fixed the halftime score at 47-30.
Teodosic struck from downtown immediately after the break to make it a 20-point game, 50-30. Krstic soon added a dunk that Suput matched with a layup. Khryapa joined the three-point shootout and but a slam by Pleiss and a driving basket by Roberts got Brose within 55-36. Krstic found space for another easy dunk but Gavel and Jenkins sank back-to-back jumpers to give their team some hope, 57-40. Shved scored in penetration, as CSKA kept trying to play up-tempo to please its fans. Suput shined with a turnaround jumper that Khryapa bettered with a three-pointer. Jenkins took over with a layup-plus-foul but Gordon answered with an off-balance layup. Kaun stepped up with a put-back basket, as Brose kept missing open shots. Ramunas Siskauskas hit a triple and Mejia added a follow-up layup but Jenkins and Tucker kept Brose within 71-52 after three quarters.
Brose needed a quick comeback to return to the game and tried to speed up its offense early in the fourth quarter. Vorontsevich, however, buried a three-pointer and Siskauskas copied him soon after that to seal the outcome, 77-53, with more than 8 minutes to go. Pleiss and Tucker made free throws, as Brose tried a 2-3 zone defense. Kaun and Vorontsevich stepped up with consecutive dunks to set the crowd on fire, 81-58. Brose called timeout and started to find easy baskets in transition but it was already too little, too late for the guests. Meanwhile, three-pointers by Vorontsevich and Anton Ponkrashov allowed CSKA to seal the win in style, as their fans celebrated that their team is ready to keep fighting for bigger goals this season.
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
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