2019-20Regular SeasonRound 10
Valencia Basket 89
Khimki Moscow Region 84
November 21, 2019 CET: 21:00
Local time: 21:00 LA FONTETA

Colom, Dubljevic lead Valencia past Khimki

Valencia Basket recorded its third consecutive win by downing Khimki Moscow Region 89-84 at La Fonteta on Thursday. Valencia improved to 4-6 in the standings while Khimki dropped to 6-4. Bojan Dubljevic led the winners with 18 points, Mike Tobey added 15 points plus 10 rebounds, Vanja Marinkovic scored 13 and Quino Colom tallied 12 points plus 11 assists for Valencia. Stefan Jovic led Khimki with 19 points and 11 assists, Devin Booker and Jonas Jerebko each added 14 points and Alexey Shved had 11 for the visitors. The game came down to the final minutes; a three-pointer by Jovic made it 85-84 in the next-to-last minute, but free throws by Jordan Loyd and a big basket by Dubljevic sealed the outcome.

Valencia started the game with aggressiveness as Louis Labeyrie finished a third-chance offense with a tip-in. Khimki had a different strategy, as Jovic, Dairis Bertans and Booker each struck from downtown in a 2-18 run that Anthony Gill capped with a jump hook for a 4-20 lead. Marinkovic hit a three-pointer and Colom added a driving layup that gave Valencia hope at 9-20. Tobey stepped up with a three-point play and a layup, but Chris Kramer and Jeremy Evans established a 14-26 Khimki advantage. Colom answered with a layup-plus-foul, which Brock Motum followed with a triple to bring Valencia within 20-26. Shved answered from downtown and followed Kramer's coast-to-coast layup with a jumper for a 26-33 Khimki lead after 10 minutes. Marinkovic nailed a triple early in the second quarter and consecutive dunks by Tobey and Motum brought the hosts as close as 33-35. Jerebko rescued the visitors with a triple, but Abalde and Tobey got Valencia within 39-40. Bertans downed a three-pointer, Tobey and Gill exchanged layup-plus-fouls and then Colom hit a jumper for a 46-48 score. Booker stopped the show with a huge dunk, but Fernando San Emeterio found his first points and a three-pointer by Loyd gave Valencia its first lead, 49-48. Dubljevic gave the hosts a 51-48 edge at halftime.

Bertans downed a triple immediately after the break, but Abalde answered with a floater and Colom hit a jumper for a 55-51 Valencia edge. Jerebko and Jovic joined the three-point shootout, but Khimki allowed too many baskets in transition - Abalde, Labeyrie and Dubljevic kept Valencia in charge, 62-57. Dubljevic took over with back-to-back layups, but Jovic scored in penetration and fed Jerebko for a triple that brought Khimki within 66-62. Jerebko dunked and then Kramer and Jovic scored around the basket for a 67-68 Khimki lead, after a 1-12 run. Marinkovic struck from beyond the arc and Vives added a driving layup, but Booker kept the visitors within 72-70 after 30 minutes. Dubljevic and Marinkovic gave the hosts fresh air, 76-73, early in the fourth quarter. Jerebko buried his fourth triple, but Dubljevic scored twice around the basket for an 80-76 Valencia lead with less than 6 minutes left. Jovic downed a three-pointer and Motum and Kramer traded layups, but Colom nailed a triple for an 85-81 Valencia lead in the next-to-last minute. Jovic answered from downtown only to see a jump hook by Dubljevic and free throws by Loyd seal the outcome, 89-84, allowing Valencia to celebrate another win.

Pivotal performer

Colom came off the bench and made things happen for Valencia with his outstanding court vision and off-the-charts basketball IQ. He finished the game with 12 points, 11 assists, 3 rebounds, 1 steal and 7 fouls drawn for a PIR of 22, a new season-high and close to his career-best effort - a PIR of 25 playing for UNICS Kazan against Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz in December 2016.

Game-changing moment

Valencia's defense made the difference in the final seconds and its most-inspired player stepped up in crunch time. Colom gave Valencia an 85-81 with a three-pointer, Loyd hit critical free throws and Dubljevic hit a floater off the baseline that sealed the outcome. Khimki was held scoreless in the final 90 seconds, so Valencia's defense takes the credit for this win.

Stellar stat

Bench players made the difference in this game, highlighting the importance of a deep roster in the second game of a double-round week. Valencia got 57 points from its bench players and Khimki got only 30. Valencia heavily outrebounded Khimki 44-34, too. Those 44 rebounds tied Valencia's second-best mark in EuroLeague history; it pulled down 46 rebounds against FC Barcelona on January 16, 2018.

Did you notice?

It was a special game for Chris Kramer. Last season, in Game 1 of the 7DAYS EuroCup Quarterfinals on March 5, Kramer suffered an ACL injury playing for Rytas Vilnius, which kept him sidelined for months. He returned in November and this was his fourth EuroLeague game and first on the floor where he was injured. He had 8 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists in a season-high 27 minutes.

Next game

Both teams return to EuroLeague action on Thursday, November 28. Khimki visits Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, featuring the Russian powerhouse's former center Joffrey Lauvergne. Valencia travels to the Serbian capital to face Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade.

Bojan Dubljevic - Valencia Basket - EB19
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Euroleague.net
Referees: LAMONICA, LUIGI; PETEK, SASO; TRAWICKI, TOMASZ
Attendance: 7023
By Quarter1234
Valencia Basket26252117
Khimki Moscow Region33152214
End of Quarter1234
Valencia Basket26517289
Khimki Moscow Region33487084
Valencia Basket
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 COLOM, QUINO 27:06 12 4/8 1/3 1/5   3 3 11 1 2       7 22
2 MARINKOVIC, VANJA 19:02 13 1/2 3/4 2/2   1 1         1 1 1 11
3 LOYD, JORDAN 20:57 6 0/3 1/5 3/3   4 4     2     3 3 1
5 NDOUR, MAURICE DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
6 ABALDE, ALBERTO 24:15 8 4/7     2 4 6 1       1 2   9
7 LABEYRIE, LOUIS 20:18 4 2/2 0/1   3 3 6 2 1 2     1 1 10
10 TOBEY, MIKE 18:17 15 6/10 0/1 3/4 6 4 10     1   2 3 3 16
12 MOTUM, BROCK 19:42 7 2/3 1/4     1 1 1 1 1         5
14 DUBLJEVIC, BOJAN 21:43 18 7/8 0/1 4/4 2 5 7 1   1 1   2 7 29
16 VIVES, GUILLEM 14:47 4 1/2 0/2 2/2   1 1           3   -1
19 SAN EMETERIO, FERNANDO 10:26 2 1/3 0/1 0/1 2 1 3 1           1 3
42 DOORNEKAMP, AARON 3:27                         1 1  
Team           2   2               2
Totals 200:00 89 28/48 6/22 15/21 17 27 44 17 3 9 1 4 16 24 107
        58.3% 27.3% 71.4%
Head coach: PONSARNAU, JAUME
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
1 SHVED, ALEXEY 29:47 11 2/5 1/8 4/5   2 2 1   2 1   2 4 4
3 KRAMER, CHRIS 26:50 8 4/6 0/3   1 2 3 3   1     5 1 4
5 BOOKER, DEVIN 31:03 14 4/9 1/2 3/3 4 6 10 2 1 3     4 2 16
7 KARASEV, SERGEY 3:55   0/1 0/1   1   1     2     1   -4
8 ZAITCEV, VIACHESLAV DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
11 JEREBKO, JONAS 26:15 14 1/5 4/7   1 3 4 1 2   1 1 3 1 12
12 MONIA, SERGEY DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 GILL, ANTHONY 19:54 7 3/4   1/1 2 4 6     1 2   4 4 13
24 JOVIC, STEFAN 31:51 19 3/6 4/5 1/3 2 3 5 11 3       3 4 33
31 VALIEV, EVGENY DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
40 EVANS, JEREMY 2:48 2 1/1                     2    
45 BERTANS, DAIRIS 27:37 9   3/6     1 1 1         1   7
Team           1 1 2               2
Totals 200:00 84 18/37 13/32 9/12 12 22 34 19 6 9 4 1 25 16 87
        48.6% 40.6% 75%
Head coach: KURTINAITIS, RIMAS

Head Coaches

PONSARNAU, JAUME
Valencia Basket
"We started the game with a lot of problems on defense because Khimki played easy, with great efficiency - too easy. We also had problems on offense because we didn't play efficiently, not being dynamic or brave. We moved the bench and found a lot of energy, big energy, players that brought great defense and great mentality. We changed the game, especially with three-point shots. We played the whole second half against switching defenses. We cannot play with dynamic situations or look for our three-point shots but found balance. For me, the most important thing today, for the win, were the rebounds. That allowed us to run and play with rhythm and for us, this is very important. When a team grows and does it by improving things and getting wins, it always has more confidence. This is what happened tonight; we had a bad start but all of us knew what we were doing wrong, and the players who came off the bench knew what they had to do. We had the energy required to play all these games. Players stepped up gradually, with great conviction and determination, and playing at home also helped us a lot. We didn't overload our players with information. When you play so many games, the best practice is resting."
KURTINAITIS, RIMAS
Khimki Moscow Region
"It was a really tough game. We started well, but then we lost control of the game. Anyway, until the end, we were back in the game and we didn't play the last couple of minutes like we usually play. We made a couple of mistakes and received an unsportsmanlike foul. Valencia played much better and for sure, they won. Congratulations to Valencia. We had a lot of problems today. We had problems with the rebounds, with pick-and-roll defense. We changed our defense in the fourth quarter and stopped their pick-and-roll offense, but our main problems were our tactical mistakes in the end of the game and the rebounds, losing that battle for the second game in a row. We got 13 rebounds less than Real Madrid and 10 rebounds less than Valencia. This is, I think, our main problem."

Players

TOBEY, MIKE
Valencia Basket
"I thought it was a great game for us. We didn't start off the way we wanted, but I think we fought back hard and it’s a great win for us. Right now we’re in a great rhythm, so we just have to keep it going."
COLOM, QUINO
Valencia Basket
"It was good for the team that I could share the ball a little bit with my teammates, but the only important thing here is the win. I am really happy; we got now three in a row in the EuroLeague in our home. I think fans enjoyed a lot these games, so we are happy and proud for this. If we keep going this way, I think can we can do great things. We started a little bit bad in the game and they took the lead, but I think that, with our energy, we were able to run a little bit and score some open shots. After that, with confidence, we played great. We played better defense and finally we took a good win against a really good team."
DUBLJEVIC, BOJAN
Valencia Basket
"We started the game bad, but after that, we showed our energy and how we play at home. It was a tough game, like all games in the EuroLeague, but after two days, it was really tough, really hard. This is the EuroLeague and we are really happy because we are at a top level like we wanted to be. We just have to continue to work and play well. There are no limits for us."