2020-21Regular SeasonRound 34
CSKA Moscow 88
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 70
April 08, 2021 CET: 19:00
Local time: 20:00 MEGASPORT ARENA

CSKA beats ASVEL to clinch second place

CSKA Moscow finished second in the 2020-21 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season by downing LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 88-70 at home in Megasport Arena on Thursday. CSKA improved to 23-10 in the standings, registered its fifth consecutive victory, and clinched second place due to its potential tie-break advantage against Anadolu Efes Istanbul (1-1, +5), which ranks third at 22-11. ASVEL finished its EuroLeague campaign with a 13-21 record. Iffe Lundberg led the winners with 23 points. Michael Eric added 21 points and Johannes Voigtmann 13 for CSKA. Guerschon Yabusele led ASVEL with 23 points while Norris Cole added 15. CSKA was up 18-15 after 10 minutes and extended its lead to 39-26 shortly before halftime. ASVEL got within 42-36 at the break and took a 56-60 lead at the end of the third quarter. Lundberg, Eric, and Daniel Hackett combined for all points in an 18-0 run that sealed the outcome down the stretch.

Moustapha Fall got ASVEL going with a layup but Eric and Darrun Hilliard quickly put CSKA ahead, 6-2. Hilliard struck from downtown before Yabusele and Cole kept the guests within 9-7. Eric kept pacing CSKA with a put-back layup and Daniel Hackett matched Antoine Diot's floater with a jumper. Ismael Bako stepped up for ASVEL and Derrick Walton took over with a four-point play but Voigtmann and Lundberg kept CSKA ahead, 18-15, after 10 minutes. Voigtmann and Lundberg kept pacing CSKA early in the second quarter. Bako detonated an alley-oop slam but Voigtmann struck from beyond the arc and added a tip-in to make ASVEL call timeout at 28-17. Janis Strelnieks scored in penetration and Lundberg added a jumper but Cole and Yabusele each hit a triple to keep ASVEL within 32-23. Yabusele and Semen Antonov traded three-pointers and Eric scored twice in the paint to restore a 39-26 CSKA margin. Cole followed a jumper with a triple and got help from Diot and David Lighty to bring ASVEL within 42-36 at halftime.

Fall scored down low soon after the break. Will Clyburn followed a jumper with a coast-to-coast layup and Eric dunked twice for a 50-42 CSKA lead. Diot buried a three-pointer and Yabusele scored in the paint but Eric and Nikita Kurbanov each dunked to give CSKA fresh air at 54-47. Yabusele and Cole hit their third three-pointers, Lighty added a three-point play and Paul Lacombe's driving layup completed the guests' comeback, 56-58. Bako hit free throws and Lundberg kept CSKA within 58-60 after 30 minutes. Lundberg buried a floater early in the fourth quarter. Charles Kahudi and Yabusele each struck from downtown to let ASVEL regain a 62-66 lead. Lundberg joined the three-point shootout and fed Eric for a wild alley-oop dunk. Daniel Hackett swished a jumper and a red hot Lundberg added a huge four-point play and a floater that boosted CSKA's lead to 75-66. Eric made a put-back layup and Hackett sealed the outcome with a three-pointer that capped an 18-0 run, 80-66, allowing CSKA to lock up second place in the regular season standings.

Pivotal performer

Michael Eric was a dominant force at both ends, especially on offense, getting as many as five dunks. He finished the game with 21 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals for a PIR of 27. His 10 two-point shots made are the most for CSKA player since Nenad Krstic had 11 against Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul on February 14, 2014.

Game-changing moment

ASVEL led 62-66 early in the fourth quarter, but when CSKA needed answers on offense, Iffe Lundberg stepped up. He hit a three-pointer, found Michael Eric for an alley-oop slam, and soon added a four-point play and a floater in an 18-0 run that put CSKA ahead for good, 80-66.

Stellar stat

CSKA limited its turnovers to just 6 and forced ASVEL to pick up as many as 15. CSKA had a much better shooting percentage than ASVEL inside the arc, hitting 23 of 39 two-pointers (59.0%). ASVEL hit 14 of its 30 attempts for a 46.7% two-point shooting rate.

Did you know?

CSKA continues its great run against French teams in the Russian capital. It has a 22-1 record against French squads in Moscow. ASVEL was the only French team to ever beat CSKA in Moscow, 83-91 on March 8, 2001, behind 34 points from Bill Howard. Those 22 CSKA home wins against French teams were by an average margin of 22.4 points.

Next game

CSKA will play a rescheduled Round 25 game against Panathinaikos OPAP Athens on Wednesday, April 14 before it gets set to start its EuroLeague Playoffs series in the Russian capital on Tuesday, April 20. ASVEL has played its final game in its 2020-21 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague season.

Iffe Lundberg - CSKA Moscow - EB20
Thursday, April 8, 2021
Euroleague.net
Referees: BOLTAUZER, MATEJ; PATERNICO, CARMELO; PERUGA, CARLOS
Attendance: 2722
By Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow18241630
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne15212410
End of Quarter1234
CSKA Moscow18425888
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne15366070
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 23:45 23 5/7 3/5 4/5   4 4 4 3 1     2 4 30
4 KHOMENKO, ALEXANDER DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
6 HILLIARD, DARRUN 21:20 8 0/3 2/8 2/4 1   1 2 1 1       3 3
7 UKHOV, IVAN 4:23                              
10 HACKETT, DANIEL 22:34 7 2/3 1/2   1 3 4 1       1 2 2 9
11 ANTONOV, SEMEN 10:14 3   1/1         1   1     1   2
13 STRELNIEKS, JANIS 17:30 7 2/3 1/2     4 4 3   1     3   8
17 VOIGTMANN, JOHANNES 20:49 13 1/3 3/4 2/2 1 1 2 1         3 3 13
21 CLYBURN, WILL 28:31 4 2/5 0/1 0/2 1 2 3 5 1 1   1 2 5 8
28 LOPATIN, ANDREI DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
41 KURBANOV, NIKITA 21:27 2 1/1     1 2 3           1   4
50 ERIC, MICHAEL 29:27 21 10/14   1/2 7 2 9   3 1     3 3 27
Team           1 2 3               3
Totals 200:00 88 23/39 11/23 9/15 13 20 33 17 8 6 0 2 17 20 107
        59% 47.8% 60%
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
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
5 KAHUDI, CHARLES 12:23 3 0/1 1/2   1 1 2 1   1     3 1 1
6 LACOMBE, PAUL 10:40 2 1/2 0/1         2   1     3 2  
8 DIOT, ANTOINE 21:08 8 1/1 2/3     2 2 3   2     2   8
10 FALL, MOUSTAPHA 14:54 4 2/2     1 2 3 1         3   5
12 NOUA, AMINE 9:10   0/2 0/1                       -3
13 HAYES, KEVARRIUS 4:23               1             1
14 WALTON JR, DERRICK 16:18 4 0/2 1/2 1/1   1 1     2       2 2
21 BAKO, ISMAEL 16:52 6 1/2   4/4 1 3 4 2   1 2   3 2 11
23 LIGHTY, DAVID 31:43 5 2/7 0/3 1/1   2 2 2 1 2     3 3  
28 YABUSELE, GUERSCHON 30:50 23 4/4 4/6 3/4 3 1 4 1   3       4 26
30 COLE, NORRIS 31:39 15 3/7 3/5         4 1 3     3 3 11
32 STRAZEL, MATTHEW DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           2 5 7               7
Totals 200:00 70 14/30 11/23 9/10 8 17 25 17 2 15 2 0 20 17 69
        46.7% 47.8% 90%
Head coach: PARKER, TJ

Head Coaches

ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
CSKA Moscow

"The competition is at the high level, so we do not expect that anything is for granted. Is anything for granted in life? You need to struggle and fight to get it, especially in these circumstances we are facing. This is another adversity we had again. We missed Toko [Shengelia] in one practice before the game, we have Joel [Bolomboy] sidelined, but the players responded very well. This is one of the wins, among other wins, that we are going to remember with fondness because we shared the hardship, we shared the difficulties and we prevailed. Even though we had bad moments in the third quarter, they hit some big shots and run of 10-0, overall, the 30-10 in the last quarter gave us the win. So, congratulations to my team. With this win, we secured the second spot, so congratulations to them."

"First of all, congratulations to the team and to those who are going to participate for the first time in a playoff series, with the home-court advantage as well, with one game left, so congratulations. We are in the second spot in this very competitive league. You saw what happened in all games. This ASVEL team beat twice Barcelona and they are leading the league. We had a lot of results out there. It is a very competitive league and that shows what kind of basketball was played this year, how competitive. Teams suffered with COVID and injuries and unfortunately among them, we are very probably the champions of that so far. We had another accident with Toko [Shengelia] and he couldn't participate in this game. But still, as I said to my players, these are some of the wins, when you are missing players, significant ones, due to injuries, you will remember with fondness because we shared the hardship. And today, we had a lot of hardship to share. We were playing against a very physical team, with size, that shot the ball pretty well and has a lot of creators and great defenders. We opened it pretty well and controlled that until the last 0-8 in the second quarter. So the closure of the second quarter was very bad for us, allowing that 0-8. Then in the third quarter, we had our lapses and this is what we cannot allow. We talked a lot in the timeouts and the fact that we found a good lineup over there, with Iffe [Lundberg] being great on creation, Eric and JoJo [Voigtmann] playing together, in that moment we managed to change their idea of playing small ball, playing Yabusele at '4' or at '5'. Pretty much we controlled the boards, we were very aggressive and we had that 18-0 run, answering to all the lapses we had in the third quarter. The last quarter, 30-10, was great. Congratulations and thank you to the fans for their support. I hope we stay healthy and have the players back, that is the most important thing."

PARKER, TJ
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne
"They had too many offensive rebounds in the first half. You cannot give too many second-chance points to a team like CSKA Moscow. Overall, it is too bad because we came back and fought through it. When you play for 35 minutes and disappear in the last 5 minutes... Congratulations to them. They made big shots and had a big game, but we should have played for 40 minutes. I think it was a good season for us. Of course, we have a lot of disappointment because we had a lot of big wins. I think we showed we could play with anybody in the EuroLeague this year, that is the positive thing for future seasons."

Players

LUNDBERG, IFFE
CSKA Moscow
"We made mistakes in the second half. Some defensive collapses in the second half, miscommunications, allowed them to make open shots but I think throughout the whole game, we managed to fight through adversity and pulled out the W."
ERIC, MICHAEL
CSKA Moscow
"ASVEL is a EuroLeague team, a high-level team. But I think we responded based on what we had and the players we had to play, and we stepped up."