2017-18Regular SeasonRound 16
FC Barcelona Lassa 85
CSKA Moscow 72
January 04, 2018 CET: 21:00
Local time: 21:00 PALAU BLAUGRANA

Rock-solid Barcelona downs CSKA

In a battle between Turkish Airlines EuroLeague powerhouses, FC Barcelona Lassa confirmed its good form by downing CSKA Moscow 85-72 in front of a sellout crowd at Palau Blaugrana on Thursday. Barcelona improved to 6-10 in the standings after recording its second consecutive win, while CSKA dropped to 12-4. Petteri Koponen led a balanced Barcelona attack with 13 points. Thomas Heurtel got 12, Pierre Oriola added 11 and Juan Carlos Navarro and Adam Hanga each had 10 for Barcelona. Nando De Colo led CSKA with 23 points and Kyle Hines added 10 for the visitors. The hosts led by 3 midway through the third quarter, but Navarro struck twice from downtown and Koponen added a jumper to push Barcelona to an 11-point lead at the end of the quarter. Oriola had 6 unanswered points early in the fourth quarter and a three-pointer by Koponen made it 75-55, after which CSKA never recovered.

Sergio Rodriguez got CSKA going with a floater, but free throws by Navarro, a layup by Adrien Moerman and a triple by Pau Ribas soon gave Barcelona an 8-4 lead. Ante Tomic scored down low and Hanga followed a backdoor layup with a huge dunk for a 14-7 advantage. Cory Higgins hit a jumper, but Ribas hit a corner three-pointer in a 7-0 run that Koponen capped with a five-meter shot to make it a 12-point game. Vorontsevich and De Colo helped CSKA to get within 25-17 after 10 minutes. Oriola struck from downtown early in the second quarter and Vezenkov followed a layup-plus-foul with a dunk, which prompted a CSKA timeout at 33-18. De Colo and Rodriguez tried to change things with back-to-back three-pointers, but Heurtel and Victor Claver scored down low and Koponen struck from beyond the arc for a 40-24 Barcelona margin. Higgins followed free throws with a layup, Hines dunked and Fridzon buried a couple of triples to get CSKA within 46-36. After Hines scored again, Clyburn added a layup. Free throws by De Colo fixed the halftime score at 47-42.

Tomic scored twice down low after the break, but a layup by Othello Hunter and a couple of three-pointers by De Colo got CSKA even closer, 53-50. Navarro ignited the crowd with consecutive three-pointers, Heurtel and Claver made free throws and Koponen hit a jumper that caused CSKA to stop the game at 64-52. Rodriguez buried a triple and Heurtel added a driving layup to fix the score at 66-55 after 30 minutes. Oriola followed a jumper with an off-balance basket and soon added a dunk that broke the game open early in the fourth quarter. Koponen beat the shot clock with a wild triple that sealed the outcome at 75-55. De Colo scored in penetration and Hines added a put-back layup, but Barcelona kept running the game clock down and used free throws to put the victory on ice long before the final buzzer.

Thomas Heurtel - FC Barcelona Lassa - EB17
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Euroleague.net
Referees: CHRISTODOULOU, CHRISTOS; ROCHA, FERNANDO; MAJKIC, MARIO
Attendance: 6609
By Quarter1234
FC Barcelona Lassa25221919
CSKA Moscow17251317
End of Quarter1234
FC Barcelona Lassa25476685
CSKA Moscow17425572
FC Barcelona Lassa
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
1 SERAPHIN, KEVIN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
5 RIBAS, PAU 13:59 6 0/1 2/5   2 2 4 3   2     3   4
8 PRESSEY, PHIL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
9 HANGA, ADAM 22:23 10 3/5 0/2 4/4 3 2 5 4 1 2 1 1 3 2 13
11 NAVARRO, JUAN CARLOS 15:28 10 0/3 2/4 4/5   1 1 1       1 1 4 8
13 HEURTEL, THOMAS 26:09 12 5/9 0/3 2/2   3 3 8   2   1 4 1 10
14 VEZENKOV, SASHA 17:37 5 2/4   1/1 1 3 4 1         3 2 7
18 ORIOLA, PIERRE 17:48 11 4/4 1/2 0/1   3 3 1   1     3 2 11
25 KOPONEN, PETTERI 24:32 13 2/5 3/5   1 2 3 1         3 1 10
30 CLAVER, VICTOR 15:46 5 2/4 0/1 1/3   2 2 1     2 1   2 6
44 TOMIC, ANTE 22:04 8 4/7   0/5 4 3 7 2   3     3 7 10
45 MOERMAN, ADRIEN 24:14 5 2/4 0/2 1/2 3 4 7 2   2 1   2 2 8
Team           1 6 7               7
Totals 200:00 85 24/46 8/24 13/23 15 31 46 24 1 12 4 4 25 23 94
        52.2% 33.3% 56.5%
Head coach: ALONSO, SITO
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
1 DE COLO, NANDO 31:33 23 5/10 3/6 4/4 2 4 6 3 2   1   4 8 31
7 FRIDZON, VITALY 16:54 6 0/3 2/3     2 2 2       2 4 1 1
11 ANTONOV, SEMEN 8:14   0/2 0/1   1   1               -2
12 KOROBKOV, PAVEL DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
13 RODRIGUEZ, SERGIO 17:49 9 1/1 2/5 1/2   2 2 4   4 1   3 1 6
20 VORONTSEVICH, ANDREY 14:25 4 2/4 0/3   1 2 3               2
21 CLYBURN, WILL 18:42 4 1/4 0/1 2/2 2 3 5 3 1 1       4 12
22 HIGGINS, CORY 30:15 9 3/4 0/1 3/4   4 4 2 1 3     4 4 10
31 KHRYAPA, VICTOR DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
41 KURBANOV, NIKITA 17:42 3 0/4 0/2 3/4 1   1 1 1 1   1 3 2 -4
42 HINES, KYLE 24:27 10 5/8     2 4 6   2   1 1 3 3 15
44 HUNTER, OTHELLO 19:59 4 2/4 0/1   1 4 5       1   3 1 5
Team           1 3 4               4
Totals 200:00 72 19/44 7/23 13/16 11 28 39 15 7 9 4 4 24 24 80
        43.2% 30.4% 81.3%
Head coach: ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS

Head Coaches

ALONSO, SITO
FC Barcelona Lassa
"I want to say that we are very happy, not only because of the win, but because of the way we got it. We started the game really well and in the bad moments, we played as a team. Before going to the locker rooms, they played really, really hard and we didn't match their toughness. After that, we talked in the locker room and agreed that we played better basketball than them in the first half. We had to keep playing this way, especially in the most important, team-related aspects: defense, passing the ball, fighting for each loose ball. Playing this way, we can compete against any team. I am very happy for the players and especially for the fans. The way we won has been very important. After December 4, the team, maybe after not beating Fenerbahce and CSKA, detoured off its goals, thinking more of individuals than in the team. Now, everyone is thinking of each other, passing the ball very well, playing strong in every action, and that makes the team more compact. Even when we played against the best team in Europe, which proved it in the first half of the season, I give more importance to the way we won. Roles were always there, honestly, since December. Sometimes, you are given a role and in order to get more respect, you have to play with more continuity for a long time, and be able to know you have teammates with a different role who can also play, too. We can look for many explanations, but that can never be an excuse to run back on defense, dive for loose balls and show a bad face. You have to trust in your team and be competitive, rebound and once you have the basics, you can play basketball one way or another, but I think we played very well tonight."
ITOUDIS, DIMITRIS
CSKA Moscow
"Congratulations to Barcelona. They were better than us and deserved the victory. We made our efforts to come back. We managed to come within 5 at halftime, but the fact that they were more decisive and they were playing like, I would say, don't get me wrong, like a wounded animal with an instinct of survival. Basketball-wise, they had been growing in previous games, even in some of the games they had lost, for instance, against Baskonia. They made good shots, play well in transition and this is what hurt us the most. Of course, they grabbed a lot of offensive rebounds and we were not able to contain the physicality and the speed they had. So, today, that's a good lesson for us. I talked after the game against Baskonia, when the first round ended, and said that we were in the first spot, but were going to face the second round really humble and go to work. Obviously, we didn't prepare the game for that. We knew that Barcelona would play like a wounded animal, trying to survive with its instincts and we did not, so congratulations again."

Players

NAVARRO, JUAN CARLOS
FC Barcelona Lassa
"I have to say that I am very happy because we showed great character to win this game. We needed a win like this, with so many fans at Palau Blaugrana. We really were better than CSKA tonight, other than three minutes in the second quarter and in the final minutes. We are really happy with the way we worked and like I said before the game, we don't have many chances to make it to the playoffs - it goes down to winning this kind of games, and we did it tonight. We controlled the game rhythm against a team like CSKA, which is not easy. We all helped on defense, focused on what we had to do. Our fans were amazing and that always helps, too. We have to be happy with this win, but there is a long road ahead of us."
CLAVER, VICTOR
FC Barcelona Lassa
"It was a great win for us, especially because of the opponent. It is very difficult to play so well against CSKA and I believe we played with great intensity from the beginning of the game. We set the tempo and our second unit kept it going after a good start, as well as our fans. We are reaching out further to contest shots, switching more on defense and playing tougher, with more intensity. That allows us to run the floor better, which is also very important."
HEURTEL, THOMAS
FC Barcelona Lassa
"We are very happy. We started the game very good. Everybody gave something on the court. We gave 100 percent, everybody. And I’m very happy for the fans. For our team and for everybody. Hard defense. I think they scored 70 points, or 72. So like I said before, everybody gave 100 percent on the court and when the opposite side scores only 72 points, you can win."
CLYBURN, WILL
CSKA Moscow
"We didn't shoot the ball very well and they played a good game, offensively and defensively. We have to put this game behind us and worry about the next one. It is a game of runs and you cannot be on top all the time. They played a good game, got the best of us and we have to worry about the next one."
DE COLO, NANDO
CSKA Moscow
"I believe Barcelona deserved to win the game from the beginning until the end. We were not as focused as we should have been, and we have to learn from this loss. They are a team that has been fighting through bad moments during the season and are playing with a much better rhythm. They were more motivated than us tonight. It is a long season, but we cannot forget about this loss. We have to learn from it."
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