2017-18PlayoffsGame 4
Khimki Moscow Region 88
CSKA Moscow 89
April 27, 2018 CET: 19:00
Local time: 20:00 ARENA MYTISHCHI

Higgins's game-winner lifts CSKA into Final Four!

Cory Higgins scored from the lane with 5.7 seconds left to give CSKA Moscow a thrilling, series-clinching 88-89 win over Khimki Moscow Region in Game 4 of their series on Friday. The dramatic finish gave CSKA a 3-1 victory in the series and punched its ticket to the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four for the seventh straight season, and the 15th in the last 16. CSKA controlled the game for the first three quarters and led by as many as 17 points, 52-69, midway through the third. But Alexey Shved was on fire, hitting 8 three-pointers to lead a Khimki rally. Back-to-back threes from Sergey Monia and Shved gave the hosts an 87-85 lead with 61 seconds to go. However, CSKA had more nerves in the final moments to pull out the victory. Higgins finished with 20 points, while Andrey Vorontsevich added 15. Other CSKA double-digit scorers were Sergio Rodriguez with 14, Semen Antonov with 13, and Will Clyburn with 12. Shved finished the game with a career-high 36 points, a new playoffs single-game record, and hit a playoffs record 8 triples on 12 attempts. He also dished 6 assists and pulled down 5 rebounds. Khimki’s only other double-digit scorer was James Anderson with 10 points.

Both teams were in great offensive rhythm from the get-go. Shved hit a couple of early triples, but CSKA scored a series of close-range baskets, including Othello Hunter’s fastbreak dunk. James Anderson drove the baseline to make it 10-9, but CSKA answered with 8 points in 22 seconds, run started with a three-pointer from Cory Higgins, continued with a fastbreak dunk from Antonov and was capped by Nikita Kurbanov's three-point play. Sergey Monia answered with a three-pointer and Charles Jenkins scored a basket-plus-free throw to get Khimki within 16-17. However, in the last 4 minutes of the first quarter, Higgins, Will Clyburn and Antonov each hit a three-pointer to make it 25-32 after 10 minutes. Antonov opened the second quarter with another three-pointer to increase CSKA's lead to 10 points. The scoring pace slowed as both teams came up with several defensive stops. The visitors kept their double-digit lead from the free throw line and opened it to 31-45 midway through the quarter. Egor Vialtsev had a long jumper and Anthony Gill a dunk for the hosts before Vorontsevich and Shved traded triples to make it 38-48. Leo Westermann made a runner and Vorontsevich downed a dunk as CSKA surged ahead 39-54 in penultimate minute of the first half. Honeycutt hit a corner three that Sergio Rodriguez answering with one of his own in the final seconds for a 44-57 score at halftime.

Antonov started second half with a three-pointer to open a 16-point margin for CSKA, but a pair of baskets from Anderson cut it to 50-60. CSKA scored the next 7 points as Rodriguez hit a step-back three at 52-69, but Shved scored as many points in two possession, hitting a pair of threes and a free throw. Gill banked in a shot and Shved nailed a long jumper to cap an 11-0 Khimki run and Stefan Markovic drove for a last-second layup to make it 65-71 going into fourth quarter. Markovic hit a three-pointer to get Khimki within 3 points, but Clyburn answered with a three of his own to snap a 16-2 Khimki run. Vorontsevich followed with a corner triple to give CSKA breathing room at 68-77. A fastbreak layup from Higgins restored a double-digit margin and Vorontsevich hit another triple to make it 68-82. But Shved stepped up again, sinking two more from long range, with a Malcolm Thomas put-back in between, to help cut the difference to 81-83. Clyburn had a put-back, but Monia hit a three-pointer then Shved hit his eighth with 1:01 left, putting Khimki ahead 87-85, its first lead since the game's first basket. Rodriguez made 2 of 2 free throws to tie it before Gill only split his foul shots to make it 88-87. CSKA got the ball to Higgins, who made a shot from the lane with 5.7 seconds left to put CSKA back in front, 88-89. Khimki had a final possession, but Monia’s long three-point attempt did not come close, prompting big CSKA celebrations.

CSKA Moscow celebrates - EB17
Friday, April 27, 2018
Euroleague.net
Referees: PUKL,SASA; RYZHYK, BORYS; JIMENEZ, BENJAMIN
Attendance: 6416
By Quarter1234
Khimki Moscow Region25192123
CSKA Moscow32251418
End of Quarter1234
Khimki Moscow Region25446588
CSKA Moscow32577189
Khimki Moscow Region
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 ROBINSON, THOMAS 14:48 5 1/1   3/4 2 3 5 1 1 1     3 4 11
1 SHVED, ALEXEY 35:09 36 3/5 8/12 6/9   5 5 6   4     4 7 37
2 HONEYCUTT, TYLER 21:37 3 0/2 1/2     4 4 2 2 2 3   2 1 8
6 VIALTSEV, EGOR 5:57 2 1/1               1     1    
8 ZAITCEV, VIACHESLAV DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 MARKOVIC, STEFAN 20:57 9 1/1 1/5 4/4   3 3 2 1 2 1   1 3 12
12 MONIA, SERGEY 12:42 8 0/1 2/3 2/2 2 2 4         1 3 1 7
13 GILL, ANTHONY 27:39 7 3/4 0/2 1/2   2 2 2 1 5 1   2 5 7
19 TODOROVIC, MARKO 6:28         2   2 1         1   2
21 ANDERSON, JAMES 11:08 10 4/5 0/2 2/2 1 1 2   1       4 1 7
22 JENKINS, CHARLES 25:12 5 2/3 0/1 1/2 1 2 3 3   1     4 2 5
23 THOMAS, MALCOLM 18:23 3 1/2 0/1 1/2 1 1 2 2         2 2 4
Team                     1         -1
Totals 200:00 88 16/25 12/28 20/27 9 23 32 19 6 17 5 1 27 26 99
        64% 42.9% 74.1%
Head coach: BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS
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 RUDD, VICTOR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 FRIDZON, VITALY 3:14                         2   -2
9 WESTERMANN, LEO 16:44 6 1/3 0/2 4/4   2 2 4 3       4 2 9
11 ANTONOV, SEMEN 18:51 13 2/2 3/4   2 2 4       1   4 1 14
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 27:32 14 1/4 2/3 6/6   2 2 3   2   1 2 4 14
20 VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY 28:12 15 1/2 3/5 4/4 3 2 5 1         3 2 17
21 CLYBURN, WILL 27:10 12 1/5 2/5 4/4 3 3 6 3 3 2   2 2 3 14
22 HIGGINS, CORY 31:36 20 6/12 2/6 2/4 1 3 4 2 2 3   2 3 7 15
31 KHRYAPA, VICTOR 0:54                   1     1   -2
41 KURBANOV, NIKITA 22:33 4 1/1 0/3 2/5 3   3 2 2       3 4 6
44 HUNTER, OTHELLO 23:14 5 1/3   3/6 2 2 4     2     3 4 3
77 MAKIEV, ALAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           2 2 4     3         1
Totals 200:00 89 14/32 12/28 25/33 16 18 34 15 10 13 1 5 27 27 89
        43.8% 42.9% 75.8%
Head coach: ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS

Head Coaches

BARTZOKAS, GEORGIOS
Khimki Moscow Region
"Today we ended our season in EuroLeague with the way it happened. I think we showed huge progress during the season, playing as a team, and playing four tight games against CSKA, the best team in the competition. In the end of this game, all the details were against us. We started the game with a completely wrong approach. It is normal, because there was a lot of pressure today, and this is a new team that sometimes does not know how to handle the pressure, to calm down to control the emotions and to play smart. During halftime, we were down by 13 points, we talked a lot, and we played a completely different game in the second half. Both teams deserved to win tonight, but as I said, at the end of the game, everything was against us. We first made a very quick foul on a player we should not foul, Rodriguez. Then we missed one free throw, and Higgins made a very difficult shot.Then, at the end of the game, what happened with the [substitution] box. What I want to say, I asked for a sub for defense. Shved had 4 fouls, and I had Honeycutt in the [substitution] box for defense. Since we could not make this sub because we missed the second free throw, I pulled Honeycutt back. So, [after Higgins’ shot] we immediately made an outlet [pass], we scored a layup and, I don’t know why, they asked us to make the sub. Although, at the end of the game, we didn’t have a sub. So I don’t understand, if he had to sub, why they accepted not to sub a player, because we continued with the same lineup. It is rare and weird, but it is what it is.We have to congratulate CSKA and wish them good luck at the Final Four. They have a great team and they deserve to be there. But I have to be proud of my team. I want to thank all our fans, and congratulate the club for the organization of games here. I think we created new fans of basketball, and new fans of our team, here, one hour away from Khimki. From our side, we gave everything this season. We made the playoffs, and in this entire series, although no one expected us to compete and to fight, we did it four games in a row. I have to tell everyone in the club we must be proud, and let’s continue working like this, and next year I hope we are going to be better."
ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
CSKA Moscow
“I want to congratulation my team and my players. I am proud of them, we reached another Final Four. I want to congratulate our opponents, it was a great series against a great team with a lot of talent. The way that they support Shved, who is their main player, is amazing, Congrats to them. We were very focused, very determined, and very decisive in the beginning of the game, and at halftime we were dominant. Then, we kind of stopped playing. Due to their good defense, and a lot of switches, they contained our creativity. We did attack wrong, we were targeting a lot, we stopped the ball movement, which is not our game, and we paid a price for that with a lot of turnovers. Then, our composure was not there. We are supposed to be a lot more calm and more decisive in those clutch moments – also my bench, including myself as well – to bring it to the end in a different way. But I have to congratulate each and every one of them. Don’t forget, we played this series without two very significant players, which is not easy. Just imagine if one of those teams competing for the Final Four, before the playoffs or during the series, would miss two significant players. But this is sports. Other players stepped up and we have a good group of people. Now, it is great for us. We will have time to heal some of the players and become better. The second half belonged to Khimki, and they came back, but we made some big shots and we managed to win this in clutch moments.”

Players

HIGGINS, CORY
CSKA Moscow
“It did not really go as planned. We came in motivated and came in focused, but they just fought until the end. Thankfully, we pulled it out, because we definitely did not want to go to Game 5. We tried to make Shved work the whole game, but he had a helluva game. He was making shots and brought his team back. We should have [stopped] that when we were up by 17, but we let them creep back. Thank God we got the win.”