2018-19Final FourSEMIFINAL B
CSKA Moscow 95
Real Madrid 90
May 17, 2019 CET: 21:00
Local time: 21:00 FERNANDO BUESA ARENA

CSKA rallies late to KO Real

CSKA Moscow dominated the fourth quarter to beat Real Madrid 95-90 late Friday in the second semifinal at the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four at Fernando Buesa Arena in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. CSKA advances to face Anadolu Efes Istanbul in Sunday's championship game. Nando De Colo scored 10 points in the final 10 minutes in helping CSKA rally from a 14-point third-quarter deficit. He and backcourt mate Sergio Rodriguez finished with 23 points apiece, Will Clyburn netted 18 and Cory Higgins 11, including the last free throws to put the game on ice. Fabien Causeur led the Real attack with 18 points, Sergio Llull added 13, Anthony Randolph 12 and Facu Camapzzo and Rudy Fernandez scored 10 apiece. Real led for all but a few seconds of the first 38 minutes, but CSKA closed the game on a 13-5 tear.

Walter Tavares and Daniel Hackett were the central factors in the early going. The Real center dunked twice and blocked a shot on defense in the opening minutes, while the CSKA guard netted 3 free throws, including a pair as a result of a Tavares foul. Clyburn tied the score at 6-6. Rudy Fernandez scored twice for Real and Camapzzo drilled a three-pointer that gave Real a 7-13 lead. Randolph got going with a slam and free throws before Llull's floater gave Real a double-digit lead, 11-22. Rodriguez helped CSKA trim the deficit with an assist to Kyle Hines and a three-pointer of his own. Rodriguez had the last basket of the quarter to make it 18-22 after 10 minutes. The teams traded shots to start the second half before free throws by De Colo and a layup by Rodriguez knotted the game at 26-26. Rodriguez's next shot from downtown gave CSKA its first lead, 29-28. Offense ruled the show with Causeur scoring on the break and Rodriguez reaching 14 points with a bucket that evened things at 36-36. Causeur scored twice more and Trey Thompkins connected from deep as Real threatened to pull away, but Clyburn put CSKA on his shoulder with a great move in the paint and later a three to beat the halftime buzzer and bring his team within 43-45.

Clyburn continued his momentum with a dunk – plus foul – over the EuroLeague's Best Defender, Tavares, but Real managed to slowly add to its lead through free throws from Campazzo and Randolph. That duo kept Real rolling; Campazzo made a wild layoff off the glass and Randolph drained a triple to raise the difference to double figures, 50-61, midway through the third quarter. Causeur extended the margin to a game-high 14 points. De Colo heated up for CSKA and cut into the deficit only to see Llull connect on a tough three-point play. However, Othello Hunter's put-back slam and Rodriguez's third three of the night drew CSKA within 65-73 through three quarters. Hunter and Rodriguez helped keep CSKA in it with key baskets early in the fourth quarter. De Colo scored 5 straight points – including a free throw after a technical foul on Madrid head coach Pablo Laso as tempers started to flare. A three-pointer by Clyburn got CSKA within 79-80 with 4 minutes to play. Clyburn split free throws to tie the game, but Jeffery Taylor responded with a three-pointer on the ensuing play to put Real back on top. Hunter came up big on the glass at both ends, including a clutch put-back. De Colo buried a pull-up three that pushed CSKA ahead 87-85 with 1:19 remaining. Campazzo fouled out inside the final minute and De Colo put CSKA up by two possessions with the resulting free throws. Llull connected on a wild three-pointer with 15.1 seconds remaining to make it 91-90. After Higgins made 2 from the line, Llull missed a three to tie it and Higgins iced the CSKA victory with a pair of free throws with 2.2 seconds on the clock.

Nando's new records

Nando De Colo further cemented his status as one of the great players in Final Four history with his big game. De Colo moved into a tie for the fifth-most career points at the Final Four with 164. He is joined there by another CSKAgreat, Theodoros Papaloukas, and Dejan Bodiroga. Llull is next on that with 163. De Colo tied another legend, Nikos Galis, for the most free throws in Final Four history. His 13-for-14 effort gave him 56, but De Colo got to that number in 17 fewer attempts than Gallis. De Colo's 13 free throws are the most in a Final Four game since Sani Becirovic's 14 for Kinder Bologna in the semifinal against Benetton Treviso in the 2002 semifinals. A few other CSKA players limbed higher on the Final Four charts: Sergio Rodriguez is now third in competition history with 48 assists and Kyle Hines is now third with 71 rebounds and fourth with 47 two-pointers made.

Unsung hero

Othello Hunter contributed 6 points and 4 rebounds while playing nearly the entirety of the fourth quarter for CSKA. He had 2 points and 1 rebound in the 30 minutes before that. Hunter scored two of CSKA's first three baskets of the fourth and later rocketed in a missed layup by Cory Higgins that made it 82-83. His 2 defensive rebounds in the last 2 minutes denied Real opportunities to score at crucial times. In a game CSKA won by 5 points, it outscored its opponent by 7 in the 20:26 that Hunter spent on the court and was outscored by 2 when he rested.

Telling statistics

CSKA made half of its 18 three-point shots, while Real shot 7 for 24 from downtown (29.2%). Sergio Llull was the tragic hero for Los Blancos; his lone three-pointer in the game gave Real hope late at 91-90, but he missed on the final possession and finished shooting 1 for 10 from behind the arc. For CSKA, Will Clyburn was 3 for 4 on three-pointers and Sergio Rodriguez 3 for 5.

Foul trouble costs Real

Walter Tavares seemed to have the game in his hands early with a series of dunks and blocks in the first quarter, but eventually, CSKA's efforts to attack paid off as the center fell into foul trouble. He finished the game with 6 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks in 15:07. CSKA outscored Real by 12 when Tavares was on the bench. Real also faced the finish without Facu Campazzo and Rudy Fernandez, who each fouled out.

Nando De Colo 2- CSKA Moscow - Final Four Vitoria-Gasteiz 2019 - EB18
Friday, May 17, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: BOLTAUZER, MATEJ; RYZHYK, BORYS; PANTHER, ANNE
Attendance: 13199 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow18252230
Real Madrid22232817
End of Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow18436595
Real Madrid22457390
CSKA Moscow
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 DE COLO, NANDO 27:28 23 2/5 2/5 13/14   4 4 2   3   1 2 11 27
3 BOLOMBOY, JOEL 2:39                              
5 PETERS, ALEC 13:26 3 0/1 1/1   2 3 5 1       1 2 1 6
7 UKHOV, IVAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 20:54 23 5/9 3/5 4/4       4   2   1 4 3 17
20 VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 CLYBURN, WILL 30:18 18 2/6 3/4 5/8   5 5 1 1 2     2 6 19
22 HIGGINS, CORY 30:54 11 1/6 0/3 9/10   3 3 1   1   1 3 5 6
23 HACKETT, DANIEL 19:15 3     3/4   3 3 2 1       4 2 6
41 KURBANOV, NIKITA 17:06           2 2       1   2   1
42 HINES, KYLE 17:21 6 3/5   0/2 2 2 4       1 2 2 1 4
44 HUNTER, OTHELLO 20:39 8 4/6     2 3 5         1 1 2 11
Team           2 2 4     1         3
Totals 200:00 95 17/38 9/18 34/42 8 27 35 11 2 9 2 7 22 31 100
        44.7% 50% 81%
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
Real Madrid
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 CAUSEUR, FABIEN 15:07 18 6/6 1/2 3/5 1 1 2 1   2     3 4 17
3 RANDOLPH, ANTHONY 23:05 12 2/8 1/3 5/5 1 4 5   1   1 1 2 4 12
5 FERNANDEZ, RUDY 18:08 10 1/1 1/3 5/6   2 2 4   1     5 3 10
7 CAMPAZZO, FACUNDO 23:26 10 2/8 1/2 3/3   2 2 6 1 2     5 5 10
9 REYES, FELIPE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
14 AYON, GUSTAVO 18:08 2 1/4     2   2 1   2 1   3 1 -1
20 CARROLL, JAYCEE 7:35 5 1/2 0/1 3/3 1   1       1   1 1 5
22 TAVARES, WALTER 15:07 6 3/3     2 7 9       3   5 1 14
23 LLULL, SERGIO 17:08 13 4/6 1/10 2/2   2 2 2         3 2 5
24 DECK, GABRIEL 20:09 2 1/2     1 1 2   1       1   3
33 THOMPKINS, TREY 23:40 9 3/3 1/2   2 4 6 1 1 1     1   14
44 TAYLOR, JEFFERY 18:27 3 0/3 1/1   1 1 2 1     1 1 3 1 1
Team             1 1               1
Totals 200:00 90 24/46 7/24 21/24 11 25 36 16 4 8 7 2 32 22 91
        52.2% 29.2% 87.5%
Head coach: LASO, PABLO

Head Coaches

ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
CSKA Moscow

"I would like to express my gratitude and my congratulations to my players. We all witnessed an amazing and outstanding comeback. I would like to congratulate Real Madrid for a great season. The way they played the game, they were ahead most of the game, they were in control of the game, and especially that third quarter gave them that boost that was necessary to get a big margin for such a close game. But we kept believing and we showed today how deep we are as a team.

"We said at the beginning of that fourth quarter that if we want to qualify for the championship game, we need to limit their creativity, the ways that they found during the game to score easy baskets. And imagine that it happened in an absurd situation because they were playing big ball and we were switching with small ball. Even though we were smaller size wise, we were big in heart. We kept fighting, rebounding and outplaying them in the fourth quarter. At the same time though, we kept our necessary composure in the clutch moments and knocked down some amazing shots. At minus 14, Chacho [Rodriguez] took over the team and gave that belief to everybody that we can come back. Then Nando took it over and Cory. Othello came from deep off the bench with a long time of not playing and he gave us a great performance. It was an amazing comeback, congratulations to my team. We qualified for the championship game where we will face another great opponent."

LASO, PABLO
Real Madrid

"First off, congratulations to CSKA for the victory. Second, congratulations to my team for a great season in the EuroLeague. We won a lot of games in the regular season and won in the playoffs and we came to the finals. It was live or die. We faced a great team. Of course, we are very disappointed now; that is normal when you lose a game like this. But I have nothing bad to say about my team because they fought until the end to get the victory. We did a lot of good things. Others not that good. We knew it would be hard to beat a team like CSKA. Now, it’s congratulations to my team for the great year we had in the EuroLeague and it’s head up for the Spanish league.

” I think when we had the advantage we played quite well, both offensively and defensively. We had some problems with fouls. But they have quality. The free throws gave them a lot of calm. We are really sad because we were really close to the European championship. It’s our obligation as sportsmen to turn things around as quickly as possible. But the great thing about sports is that it gives you another opportunity. We lost, but I think we can say that the other team beat us."

Players

PETERS, ALEC
CSKA Moscow
"Unbelievable game. The comeback we made in the second half was a true testament to our character as a team. Very tough, very resilient. We made shots when it counted and finally got the rebounds at the end when it counted. We strung some stops, they were taking some tough contested shot, we got some bounces to go our way. They beat us up the first half offensive rebound-wise, they were making some shots from the outside. We got them to miss a few and we capitalized on the extra possessions that we were getting. "
HIGGINS, CORY
CSKA Moscow
"We felt like we could come back the whole time because we have been there so many times throughout the season. Especially through our ups and down, after the down time, we always bounced back. We knew what we were capable of, this was our last chance to do it, and everybody buckled down and got the job done."
HINES, KYLE
CSKA Moscow
"It was an incredible game. It showed the character of our team, of this group. We kept believing no matter what. Obviously, we felt we did not play our best basketball in the game, but we kept believing and kept fighting, and showed what this team really is. We had this experience before, throughout the season, even recently in this arena a couple weeks ago. So we understand what it takes. Obviously, we don't want to be down 13 or 14 points, but we kept believing and that is what matters most."
HUNTER, OTHELLO
CSKA Moscow
"We never gave up. Down 14 points in the third quarter, we kept fighting. We knew it was not over. We came here to win, so that's what we had to do. Everybody stepped up and that's what we did. I worked so hard, it is my fourth time here. I thought the third was the charm; it wasn't, so the fourth must be the charm. I wanted to leave it all on the floor. I did not want to say later if I would have done this, if I would have got this rebounds, if I would have done that. I did not want to have any regrets and that is how I played."
DE COLO, NANDO
CSKA Moscow

“It was a tough game, we knew that before. To play against Madrid is always tough, they got a lot of experience, a lot of good players, they know how to play but we never gave up. We played with character and this is what made the difference in the end. The season was long and we had this kind of game during the season, but every time we stepped up. Now we need to stay focussed because we’ve got one more.”

"It takes some character to just come back in the game, and tonight against Real Madrid even more. Like we talked before the game, we have to stick to the plan, stay together, to play 40 minutes regardless of what is happening on the court. And that is what we did. We feel great, we are very happy, but now we need to think about the next one."

RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO
CSKA Moscow
“Today was an amazing game, I don’t know if I’ve ever played a game like this. We played against an amazing team with a lot of depth, experience, talent and winners, so it’s very hard to come back three times against them and get the win. We went down 11 and then 14 and it wasn’t working, but we put the effort we showed during the whole year. We keep believing. Last year was tough coming to the Final Four and losing, but we’re happy and we’ve got another game, we’ve got to finish it up.”
CAUSEUR, FABIEN
Real Madrid
"We played quite well for 35 minutes but in the end, we lost due to details, like not locking the defensive rebounds and bad defense in the pick-and-roll. They took advantage of that and gained confidence as they came back, believing they could win the game. We rushed things a bit on offense. Things like this happen in basketball all the time and it is hard to accept. I don't have many explanations right now, but we have to learn from this game. We win together and lose together."
CAMPAZZO, FACUNDO
Real Madrid
"CSKA deserves a lot of credit for the way they played in the second half. In those moments of the game, details make the difference and we didn't do well at that. There is one game left and we will try to honor the Third Place Game as much as we can. We have to carry on, turn the page, no matter how much this loss hurts, and think about what is coming next."
LLULL, SERGIO
Real Madrid
"It was a heads-or-tails situation, but they played better down the stretch and went to the final. If you forgive these kinds of teams, things like this happen in the end. We have to learn from our mistakes; we missed a good opportunity to keep winning titles. We have to stand up; we have more games ahead of us. Talking about the referees would be making excuses and this is Real Madrid, we don't make any excuses. What we want is to win titles and we just missed the chance to play another final."