2020-21Regular SeasonRound 33
CSKA Moscow 97
Khimki Moscow Region 72
April 02, 2021 CET: 19:00
Local time: 20:00 MEGASPORT ARENA

CSKA breezes past Khimki to seal homecourt

CSKA Moscow secured homecourt advantage in the playoffs with a commanding 97-72 local derby home win over Khimki Moscow Region. CSKA was in control from the beginning and never trailed, moving steadily into a 47-34 lead by half-time. The gap kept on growing, reaching 30 late in the third quarter, and the Reds cruised home the rest of the way. Michael Eric scored 10 points in the first quarter in his total of 14, and fellow big man Johannes Voigtmann was CSKA’s top performer with 16 points and 9 rebounds. Iffe Lundberg also scored 16, Darrun Hilliard had 13, Toko Shengelia scored 11 and Will Clyburn added 10. Jordan Mickey led Khimki with 16 points, 7 rebounds and 6 steals, Sergey Karasev scored 15 and Errick McCollom netted 14. CSKA improves to 22-10, while Khimki sinks to 4-28.

Inside scores from Shengelia and Eric got CSKA 6-0 ahead early, with Khimki held scoreless for more than 3 minutes before Karasev hit consecutive triples to tie it up. Eric stayed hot by adding three more close-range scores, and a corner triple from Voigtmann stretched the lead to 15-8. Voigtmann added two more inside baskets, including a brutal dunk, but free throws from Mickey and an Evgeny Voronov buzzer-beating three-pointer pulled Khimki back to 21-17 after ten minutes. Clyburn’s driving layup and a Lundberg transition basket opened the second quarter, before McCollom got his first points with a jumper. Janis Strelnieks and McCollom traded triples and baskets were evenly exchanged over the next few minutes, before triples from Lundberg and Clyburn gave CSKA a 37-28 edge. Eric came back off the bench to take the lead to double figures, and free throws extended the interval advantage to 47-34 despite a mid-range buzzer beating jumper from Mickey.

Eric started the second half with a bang as he threw down a huge slam, and Lundberg stretched the lead to 51-34. Karasev hit back with a three-point play followed by a floater, but Lundberg struck from deep and Shengelia added a layup and one for a 57-39 advantage. Voigtmann added another three-point play to take the lead past 20. Hilliard scored three consecutive baskets to make it 69-40, before Evgeny Valiev finally ended the 18-1 run with a tip-in. Hilliard added a three-point play and Alexander Khomenko struck a long two, making it 76-47 at the end of the third. McCollom pulled it closer with 7 consecutive points as Khimki started the fourth quarter with a 0-9 run, but Shengelia and Voigtmann steadied CSKA to ensure there would be no dramatic Khimki comeback. Mickey tried to keep it respectable with two more scores, but Lundberg in penetration and Daniel Hackett from the corner extended the margin to 90-65. There was little action in the latter stages with the outcome already well and truly decided.

Inside dominance for CSKA

CSKA focused all its early efforts inside, not attempting a three-point shot until 5 minutes had been played. And that set the tone for the rest of the game, with the home side converting an outstanding 32-of-44 two-point attempts (72.7%). Those 32 two-pointers were CSKA’s highest of the season.

Mid-season signings step up

Michael Eric was the dominant figure in the opening stages, scoring 10 of CSKA’s first 12 points. The center was held back after picking up his third foul early in the second half, but his total of 14 points was his best for the team since signing in mid-season. Iffe Lundberg also recorded his best figures in a CSKA uniform with 16 points and 4 assists.

Itoudis spreads the load

CSKA coach Dimitris Itoudis used his team’s huge third quarter advantage as an opportunity to spread playing time across the roster. 11 players had at least 12 minutes on the floor, and the other member of the roster, Alexander Khomenko, was given 6:18 playing time. No CSKA player spent more than 22 minutes in the game.

Next round

CSKA plays its penultimate game of the regular season at home to LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne next Thursday, while Khimki is back in action on Tuesday for a rearranged Round 24 meeting at Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv.

Johannes Voigtmann - CSKA Moscow - EB20
Friday, April 2, 2021
Euroleague.net
Referees: LATISEVS, OLEGS; JOVCIC, MILIVOJE; THEPENIER, HUGUES
Attendance: 3261
By Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow21262921
Khimki Moscow Region17171325
End of Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow21477697
Khimki Moscow Region17344772
CSKA Moscow
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 LUNDBERG, IFFE 21:38 16 5/7 2/3 0/2   1 1 4 1 1     4 2 14
4 KHOMENKO, ALEXANDER 6:18 2 1/1               1     2 1  
6 HILLIARD, DARRUN 13:04 13 3/3 1/2 4/4   1 1 1   1 1   2 3 15
7 UKHOV, IVAN 12:17   0/3   0/2           2     2 1 -8
10 HACKETT, DANIEL 15:27 3   1/1     2 2 5 2       3 1 10
11 ANTONOV, SEMEN 18:05 2 1/2     1 2 3 2 2       2   6
13 STRELNIEKS, JANIS 21:03 8 1/2 2/4         2 1 2     1 1 6
17 VOIGTMANN, JOHANNES 21:58 16 5/6 1/3 3/4 2 7 9 1   2     1 3 22
21 CLYBURN, WILL 18:14 10 4/4 0/1 2/3   2 2 3 2 1       3 17
23 SHENGELIA, TORNIKE 20:21 11 5/7 0/2 1/2   4 4 3   4 1   2 5 13
41 KURBANOV, NIKITA 15:20 2   0/1 2/2   1 1   2       1 1 4
50 ERIC, MICHAEL 16:15 14 7/9     2 3 5   2 2 1   3 1 16
Team           3 1 4               4
Totals 200:00 97 32/44 7/17 12/19 8 24 32 21 12 16 3 0 23 22 119
        72.7% 41.2% 63.2%
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
Khimki Moscow Region
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
3 MCCOLLUM, ERRICK 26:57 14 4/9 1/5 3/5 1   1   2     1 1 6 10
7 KARASEV, SERGEY 19:32 15 3/3 2/3 3/4 1 2 3   1 2     2 5 18
8 ZAITCEV, VIACHESLAV 23:35 6 2/4 0/2 2/2   1 1 3 1 1     3 3 6
9 VIALTSEV, EGOR 14:53 1   0/2 1/2   1 1 1   2     2 2 -2
10 KADOSHNIKOV, DMITRII 3:06   0/1                   1 2   -4
12 MONIA, SERGEY 26:49 2 1/1 0/2   2 2 4 3 2 4     4   1
13 SHARAPOV, VLADISLAV 2:37           1 1     1          
14 PONKRASHOV, ANTON 16:49 2 1/2 0/2     1 1 2   2     2 1 -1
17 ODINOKOV, VLADISLAV 1:32     0/1                       -1
18 VORONOV, EVGENY 18:38 9 1/2 2/3 1/2   4 4 2   1     3 2 10
30 VALIEV, EVGENY 14:30 7 1/1 1/1 2/2 2   2 1         2 1 9
55 MICKEY, JORDAN 31:02 16 5/10   6/6 1 6 7 2 6 3   1 1 3 24
Team           2 1 3     3          
Totals 200:00 72 18/33 6/21 18/23 9 19 28 14 12 19 0 3 22 23 70
        54.5% 28.6% 78.3%
Head coach: MALTSEV, ANDREI

Head Coaches

ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
CSKA Moscow

“We set the tone from the beginning and kept it up most of the game. I’m not happy with the start of the fourth quarter – we were sloppy, lost our composure and turned over the ball too much. All due respect to Khimki, they were doing their job and trying to press, but that’s not good for us, we haven’t respected what we had built in the first three quarters. But generally we were the better team, congratulations to the players for the win. We wanted to play other people as well, the fact that we have six players with double-digits shows we played a team game, modern basketball. I wanted to play some players who have less minutes so they are ready for the playoffs, and with this game we accomplished home court advantage so congratulations to the team.”

“For three quarters we were very decisive and dominant, controlling the boards, shooting great and having concrete ideas about what we’re doing defensively and offensively. Thank you to the fans who came to support the team, this is also important.”

MALTSEV, ANDREI
Khimki Moscow Region
“Congrats to CSKA on a confident win. I hope the coming games will let them go further. After a good game with overtime against ASVEL, it was tough to play tonight. CSKA had one more day to recover because they played with Zenit on Tuesday. For sure, it was not the decisive factor but it affected us. We played good basketball while we had enough energy, and winning the last quarter is one thing we can be proud of.”

Players

VOIGTMANN, JOHANNES
CSKA Moscow
“We decided to play hard from the beginning. In the first half they were sticking around so we had to give another push in the second half to finally get a big margin. We need all the games to prepare for the playoffs. We need to get a rhythm. We’ve got some tough times behind us and we’re trying to get our rhythm. We’ve got to get ready as a team, that’s the main point. We’ve got to use games and practises to get ourselves in shape to be at our best in the playoffs.”
CLYBURN, WILL
CSKA Moscow
“We came out here and played our game. We followed the game plan. Everybody knows the importance of these last couple of games – go out on a strong note, playing great basketball, so I’m glad we got the win. The first three quarters we took care of business, and that’s what we need to do.”