2019-20Regular SeasonRound 4
ALBA Berlin 66
CSKA Moscow 82
October 25, 2019 CET: 20:00
Local time: 20:00 MERCEDES-BENZ ARENA

CSKA too good in road win over ALBA

CSKA Moscow shook off a rare case of ineffectiveness and still ran away with a 66-82 victory at ALBA Berlin to remain perfect. After a slow start, CSKA took control of the game with a 1-15 run in the third quarter as the reigning champions improved to 4-0. Mike James led the way with 22 points and Darrun Hilliard added 21 points, with Joel Bolomboy chipping in 12 points. ALBA, which was out-scored 8-22 in the third quarter, was paced by Luke Sikma, Niels Giffey and Tim Schneider all with 11 points, while and Peyton Siva picked up 7 points and 11 assists for the home side, which dropped to 1-3. ALBA fell to 0-5 all-time in the EuroLeague against CSKA, also losing twice in the 2013 Top 16 and both games in the 2014 Regular Season.

ALBA started the game off in style with Siva serving up an alley-oop for Sikma, who added a second basket for a 5-3 lead. But CSKA, the competition’s top three-point shooting team, started hot as Hilliard nailed two threes and James hit a second long ball for an 8-13 advantage. CSKA held ALBA to just one Giffey basket in nearly 5 minutes with Bolomboy extending the gap to 11-17. But the hosts scored the final four points of the quarter to trail 15-17 after 10 minutes. CSKA turned the ball over six times in the first quarter and lost it four more times in the first 3 minutes of the second, while Schneider nailed a three-pointer to put ALBA ahead 23-21. The champs started to execute a bit better on offense with six straight points for a 25-29 margin. Sikma answered with a triple but Bolomboy and Hilliard knocked down three-balls at the other end and CSKA was leading 34-39 at intermission. A Johannes Voigtmann triple early in the second half increased the CSKA lead to eight points, 36-44. Giffey drained one from the outside at the other end but ALBA then went more than 6 minutes with just one free throw as CSKA got a three-point play from James and two three-pointers from Hilliard in a 1-15 run to go up 40-59. It was 42-61 after 30 minutes and two Janis Strelnieks free throws increased the CSKA lead to 20 points - 43-63 - early in the final frame. ALBA did get three-balls from Rokas Giedraitis and Tyler Cavanaugh in trimming the deficit to 51-63 with less than 7 minutes to play, but Strelnieks punched back with a deep strike of his own to start a 0-7 spurt for a 51-70 cushion. ALBA tried to cut into the gap but Hilliard and James both knocked down three-pointers in the closing minutes to secure the win.

Clyburn suffers injury

CSKA’s Will Clyburn went down with a knee injury and had to be assisted off the court at the 3:53 minute mark in the second quarter. Last year’s Final Four MVP could not put any pressure on his right knee and did not return. “The only bad thing is the injury…it looks bad,” CSKA head coach Dimitris Itoudis said after the game.

Pivotal performer

Mike James was all over for CSKA with 22 points, including 3 three-pointers, to go with 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals for a PIR of 23.

Telling numbers

CSKA overcame 20 turnovers thanks to winning the rebound battle 39-27 with 12 offensive rebounds, while also holding ALBA to just 40.0% on two-point shots and 29.2% from long range. ALBA’s 66 points were 25.3 fewer than the German side had averaged coming into the game.

Next games

ALBA will remain at home next week as it hosts AX Armani Exchange Milan hoping to pick up its second home victory on Tuesday. CSKA heads back home and will take on Olympiacos Piraeus on Wednesday searching for a fifth win in five games.

Mike James - CSKA Moscow - EB19
Friday, October 25, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: RADOVIC, SRETEN; CORTES, CARLOS; LAURINAVICIUS, JURGIS
Attendance: 13212
By Quarter1234
ALBA Berlin1519824
CSKA Moscow17222221
End of Quarter1234
ALBA Berlin15344266
CSKA Moscow17396182
ALBA Berlin
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 MASON, MAKAI 5:31     0/2         1           1  
3 SIVA, PEYTON 31:17 7 1/3 1/7 2/2   1 1 11 1 2     1 4 13
5 GIFFEY, NIELS 23:28 11 4/6 1/1   2 1 3 2 3 1     1   15
8 ERIKSSON, MARCUS 8:27   0/2 0/1     2 2 1   1     1 2  
9 MATTISSECK, JONAS 11:08 2 1/1             1 3     5 1 -4
10 SCHNEIDER, TIM 17:00 11 1/2 2/2 3/4         1       1 2 11
25 OGBE, KENNETH 10:24 2 1/2       2 2               3
31 GIEDRAITIS, ROKAS 29:45 10 2/4 1/6 3/4 2 4 6 3 3 4     1 2 11
32 THIEMANN, JOHANNES 2:46 1     1/2                   1 1
34 CAVANAUGH, TYLER 10:51 3 0/4 1/1     1 1     1   1 5   -7
35 NNOKO, LANDRY 23:18 8 3/9   2/6 3 4 7           2 6 9
43 SIKMA, LUKE 26:05 11 3/7 1/4 2/4 4 1 5 2 1 2     4 3 7
Team           3 3 6     1         5
Totals 200:00 66 16/40 7/24 13/22 14 19 33 20 10 15 0 1 21 22 64
        40% 29.2% 59.1%
Head coach: GARCIA RENESES, AITO
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 BOLOMBOY, JOEL 26:56 12 3/4 1/3 3/5 2 2 4   1 2     1 7 16
5 JAMES, MIKE 29:09 22 5/8 3/8 3/3 1 2 3 5 2 4     1 4 23
11 ANTONOV, SEMEN 2:09                         2   -2
13 STRELNIEKS, JANIS 12:16 7 1/1 1/3 2/2   1 1 4 2       2 1 11
17 VOIGTMANN, JOHANNES 25:06 7 2/2 1/4   1 7 8 1 1 1       1 14
20 VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY 13:48 2 1/1 0/3   1 1 2           4 1 -2
21 CLYBURN, WILL 8:48 2 1/3     3   3   1 2         2
23 HACKETT, DANIEL 13:29 2 0/1   2/2 1 3 4 3   2     3 4 7
32 HILLIARD, DARRUN 26:19 21 1/4 6/10 1/2   2 2 2 2 2     3 1 15
41 KURBANOV, NIKITA 20:13     0/1   1 7 8 3   1 1   2   8
42 HINES, KYLE 12:01 7 3/3   1/2 2   2     2     4 2 4
84 BAKER, RON 9:46           2 2     4         -2
Team             2 2     1         1
Totals 200:00 82 17/27 12/32 12/16 12 29 41 18 9 21 1 0 22 21 95
        63% 37.5% 75%
Head coach: ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS

Head Coaches

GARCIA RENESES, AITO
ALBA Berlin
"The best thing for ALBA today was our fans, because they were with the team for 40 minutes. We didn’t play with our usual intensity for 40 minutes. Why? Because we were losing and we saw with time it was more difficult to win the game. So we lost concentration. We can’t lose our concentration. We must always play with focus and intensity. It’s our way of playing."
ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
CSKA Moscow
I think it’s obvious that we played with great character. We were concentrated. I have to congratulate my players for the level of concentration and aggressiveness that they had, the level of communication, which was eventually better in the second half. In the first half we were not communicating. I think the fact that we were turning the ball over that much is too much. Of course ALBA was putting pressure on us, but that’s not all. We were sloppy in the beginning. We turned the ball over too much. Overall though, we were the first team to keep ALBA that low in scoring so I think we did a good job on keeping them to 66 points.

Players

GIFFEY, NIELS
ALBA Berlin
“Our main problem tonight was our rebounding. CSKA got a lot of second chance points and that kept us from running, what we like to do most. In the first half we saw that we can compete with them, but in the second half we were not able to adapt to the different style of the game.”
HILLIARD, DARRUN
CSKA Moscow
"We just played a full game. They came out in the first half and kind of stuck it to us. We came out in the second half and said we had to play harder and take care of the ball, and that’s what we did. Mike James did a great job finding us. It was a big win on the road. Every lesson going forward is good for this team. We’re a new team, a new bunch of guys. And every lesson we can get is a big step. The big one today is we just have to play a full game."
JAMES, MIKE
CSKA Moscow
"I was just aggressive. When I drive, I draw a lot of attention and it gives my teammates open looks. As long as I make the right decision, everybody looks good. That third quarter we really picked it up defensively. I think we played defense overall good - they’re a good offensive team and we held them to 66. We played a good defensive game overall, we just kind of locked in more in the third quarter."