2014-15FinalsGame 1
Herbalife Gran Canaria 66
Khimki Moscow Region 91
April 24, 2015 CET: 20:45
Local time: 19:45 GRAN CANARIA ARENA

Khimki routs Gran Canaria to close in on title

Khimki Moscow Region is just one step away from its second Eurocup title after drubbing Herbalife Gran Canaria Las Palmas 66-91 in Game 1 of the Eurocup Finals on Friday at Gran Canaria Arena. Khimki hosts Game 2 of the two-game total-points series next week knowing that a win – or a loss by up to 24 points – will make it the 2015 Eurocup champion and hand it a berth in the 2015-16 Turkish Airlines Euroleague Regular Season. Egor Vyaltsev scored a season-high 18 points and Petteri Koponen also netted 18 points, while Paul Davis tallied 17 points and Eurocup MVP Tyrese Rice totaled 13 points and 5 assists for Khimki, which shot at a blistering pace (72.2% on two-point shots, on 47.8% threes) and outrebounded the hosts 25-34. Kyle Kuric scored 23 points on 5-of-9 three-point shooting and Eulis Baez added 18 points and 7 rebounds for Gran Canaria in defeat. Davis scored 10 first quarter points to put Khimki ahead 19-21 after 10 minutes. Then Koponen led an 0-8 run which made it a double-digit game. A three-point play by Oriol Pauli got Gran Canaria within 33-40 at halftime. The third quarter saw Baez almost singlehandedly bring the hosts back into the series at 47-49. However Vyaltsev made a pair of threes and Koponen scored 7 points in a 1-16 charge to open the fourth quarter as Khimki ran away with the game – and possibly, the series.

First quarter: Davis puts Khimki ahead

Baez got Gran Canaria going with a layup which Rice quickly erased with a driving basket. Davis scored around the basket, as Khimki dominated the boards in the early going. Vyaltsev finished a three-chance Khimki offense with a layup and Rice found Davis for an easy basket that capped a 0-8 run. Baez rescued Gran Canaria with a power layup and Kuric struck from downtown to keep the hosts within 7-8. Walter Tavares scored around the basket to put Gran Canaria back ahead, 9-8. Davis followed a jump hook with a backdoor layup to restore a 9-12 Khimki edge. After Ian O'Leary ignited the crowd with a wild put-back slam, Davis answered with a tip-in and Kuric did better with his second triple, which tied it at 14-14. Stanislav Itnitskiy shined with a three-point play and James Augustine erased Albert Oliver's layup with a slam. A running hook by Vyaltsev and free throws by Oliver and O'Leary fixed the score at 19-21 after 10 minutes.

Second quarter: Vyaltsev shines, Khimki soars

Gran Canaria had managed to shut down Rice, but Khimki kept finding ways to score. Koponen scored in penetration and a reverse layup by Augustine made it a 6-point game. Koponen swished his trademark five-meter jumper, as Khimki held Gran Canaria scoreless for more than three minutes. A layup by Rice made it 19-29. Tomas Bellas rescued Gran Canaria with a triple and a dunk by Tavares brought the hosts within 5. Sergey Monia silenced the crowd with a three-pointer and Vyaltsev also struck from downtown for a 24-35 Khimki margin. Baez hit foul shots, but Davis buried a turnaround jumper. Oliver made it 28-35. Vyaltsev kept pacing Khimki with a three-point play, however Kuric matched that with a bomb from beyond the arc. Koponen scored in penetration, but Pauli answered with a layup-plus-foul to bring Gran Canaria a bit closer, 33-40, at halftime.

Third quarter: Baez rescues Granca

Baez buried a three-pointer immediately after the break, but an acrobatic layup by Vyaltsev restored a 36-42 Khimki lead. Khimki kept struggling to get Rice involved, but improved its defense and Davis hit another jump hook for a 36-44 advantage. Baez ignited the crowd with a wild put-back slam - and the free throw that came with it. And Kuric added a coast-to-coast layup off a steal, which caused Khimki to call timeout at 41-44. Ilnitskiy and a red-hot Baez exchanged baskets and Monia buried a three-pointer to keep Khimki ahead, 43-49. Baez scored again and added a close jumper to make it a 2-point game. Rice stepped up with a step-back triple, Kuric answered with a one-handed jumper in the lane. A free throw by Davis gave Khimki a 49-53 edge. Brad Newley found his first points, but Davis scored down low. Kendall got the hosts within 52-55. A layup by Augustine, a wild alley-oop slam by O'Leary and a buzzer-beating jumper by Koponen fixed the score at 54-59 at the end of the quarter.

Fourth quarter: Khimki’s 1-16 charge puts the game away

Back-to-back threes by Vyaltsev and Monia put the hosts back on their heels. After Kuric split free throws, Koponen made a layup and Vyaltsev nailed another triple. When Augustine completed a three-point play, he also capped a 0-10 run that made it 55-75. Kuric fired in a three, but Koponen responded with the next 5 points for a 22-point lead with five minutes to go. The hosts continued to play hard as Oliver made free throws and Kuric converted a four-point play, but Rice made a pair of threes to keep Khimki comfortably ahead. Kuric banked in a shot, however Koponen’s three and Davis’s free throws gave Khimki its largest lead at the end of the game, 66-91.

Petteri Koponen - Khimki Moscow Region - Finals 2015 in Las Palmas - EC14
Friday, April 24, 2015
Eurocupbasketball.com
Referees: ROCHA, FERNANDO; CHIARI, ROBERTO; NURAN, RUSTU
Attendance: 9875 (Tentative)
By Quarter1234
Herbalife Gran Canaria19142112
Khimki Moscow Region21191932
End of Quarter1234
Herbalife Gran Canaria19335466
Khimki Moscow Region21405991
Herbalife Gran Canaria
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
4 OLIVER, ALBERT 22:26 7 1/2 0/4 5/6 1 1 2 4 2 5     2 4 6
8 NEWLEY, BRAD 14:20 2 1/1 0/1   1 1 2     1       1 3
10 URTASUN, TXEMI 18:30   0/1 0/4     1 1 2         1   -3
11 BELLAS, TOMAS 25:55 3 0/4 1/3         3 1 1     4 1 -3
13 BAEZ, EULIS 27:41 18 6/8 1/3 3/4 4 3 7 1   3   2 1 5 20
14 KENDALL, LEVON 20:15 1 0/3   1/2 3   3 2 3       3 3 5
15 PORTUGUES, JOAQUIN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
21 PAULI, ORIOL 4:37 3 1/2 0/1 1/1 1   1   1         2 5
22 TAVARES, WALTER 19:45 4 2/2       4 4 1     3   3 1 10
24 KURIC, KYLE 34:12 23 3/8 5/9 2/3   2 2   1 1 2     4 21
25 O'LEARY, IAN 12:19 5 2/3   1/2 1   1     1     2 2 3
35 SUMMERS, DAJUAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Team           2   2     1         1
Totals 200:00 66 16/34 7/25 13/18 13 12 25 13 8 13 5 2 16 23 68
        47.1% 28% 72.2%
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
Khimki Moscow Region
  Rebounds Blocks Fouls
# Player Min Pts 2FG 3FG FT O D T As St To Fv Ag Cm Rv PIR
0 RICE, TYRESE 30:07 13 2/5 3/8   1 1 2 5   5   2 2 7 10
5 AUGUSTINE, JAMES 29:25 9 4/5   1/1   6 6 2         1 1 16
6 POPOVIC, MARKO DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7 PATEEV, RUSLAN DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8 KOPONEN, PETTERI 27:26 18 6/9 2/6     2 2 3 1 5   1 2 1 10
9 VIALTSEV, EGOR 27:54 18 4/6 3/4 1/1 1 2 3 4 1 2   1 3 2 19
11 ILNITSKIY, STANISLAV 20:58 5 2/2   1/1 3 1 4           3 1 7
12 MONIA, SERGEY 25:48 9 0/1 3/4   1 5 6 2 1 1 1 1 5   10
34 SAKHAROV, MAXIM DNP - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
40 DAVIS, PAUL 24:47 17 7/7 0/1 3/4 2 4 6 1   1 1   4 4 22
45 SHELEKETO, MAKSIM 13:35 2 1/1       2 2   2       3   3
Team           1 2 3     1         2
Totals 200:00 91 26/36 11/23 6/7 9 25 34 17 5 15 2 5 23 16 99
        72.2% 47.8% 85.7%
Head coach: KURTINAITIS, RIMAS

Head Coaches

GARCIA RENESES, AITO
Herbalife Gran Canaria
"First of all, congratulations to Khimki. They played much better than us and that is the most important thing. We can analyze the mistakes we made, but the most important thing is that they played much better than us. Our main mistakes were to start the game with too much respect, which didn't allow us to play at our usual level when we were fresh. They took advantage of it and that was our first mistake. Then we have to agree that we arrived in a bad physical condition at the end of the game. Their physical power and speed allowed them to break the game, hitting 7 of 8 three-point shots in the fourth quarter. There was a moment, midway through the fourth quarter, in which the team was frustrated. I tried to tell them that this game was not the end of the series and that nothing was lost by losing at home, but the team was frustrated. What we have to do when you reach a final in such a big competition, and you play against a team that does as well as Khimki did, you don't have to be sad. I gave my players an example: if I play a chess game against any of you and win, I can be very happy, but if I lose against the world champion, do I have to be sad? It is logical to lose. We have to use this to learn; we don't have the physical strength, speed or talent that some of their players have, but we have use this to learn and avoid keeping our head down with this loss."
KURTINAITIS, RIMAS
Khimki Moscow Region
"I’m really happy that we had one of the best games of our season in the final. It’s like a double victory. I want to thank our players, because we had a lot of problems with injuries, but everyone that was on the court gave 100% effort and the result was what you saw. Now I think we have really good chances with the last game at home and this 25-point advantage. We must focus because we took this first step towards the cup and must take the second one. This game is history and we have to look to the future and have the same effort that we had in this game. I don’t think it will be a problem to have the players concentration. "

Players

URTASUN, TXEMI
Herbalife Gran Canaria
"We were in the game for almost 30 minutes, but then everything went wrong. Our game plan was to play aggressive and put a lot of pressure on the ball. They have talented players who are able to penetrate like Tyrese Rice and Petteri Koponen and I believe that we gave them that half a meter they needed to feel comfortable on offense. Of course, we will try to win Game 2. You don't get to play a final every day. It is the first final in club history and of course, as long as we have a little hope, we will go for it."
KURIC, KYLE
Herbalife Gran Canaria
"They would miss a lot, get the rebound and knock down a three-pointer or penetrate to the basket for a layup or something like this. It is hard to beat a team when they hit so many three-point shots in the last quarter. They were just better than us tonight. Well, all we have to do right now is to win by 26!"
VIALTSEV, EGOR
Khimki Moscow Region
"Like with any Spanish team, they play very hard. They run, they have so many snipers. They have big guys to play a physical game. We prepared for this. Coach asked us to play hard on defense not to give up any easy points. Not to lose by too much and to play for a tie game. We prepared for this. We had a couple weeks to prepare and today we just played our game. "
RICE, TYRESE
Khimki Moscow Region
"Coach said in the beginning he just wanted to keep it tight and maybe get a small lead or something going into halftime and then go from there. That was our goal and we did it the right way. They made their runs, which we expected in this gym, we made the stops when we had to. We had some guys that came up really big and hit a lot of big shots that took it away. These guys are fighters and will fight to the end and you have to beat them. We played hard all the way till the end. We made a lot of big shots. We got a lot of huge stops. We got some steals when we needed them. We rebounded the ball defensively greatly. Our big guys did what they were supposed to do. Max Sheleketo came in and did what he was supposed to do. And we ran away with it."
KOPONEN, PETTERI
Khimki Moscow Region
"Every road game is hard. In the first half we were a little bit sloppy and I also missed some open shots, but in the second half we picked it up and played good basketball. We scored 91 points, we are happy with this. We held them to 66 points, which is a great result. But it’s not over yet. There are still 40 minutes to play and we must stay focused. Basketball is an interesting game, so we need to stay focused and be ready next week. For sure they will come with double energy and try to surprise us and be aggressive, and we need to be ready for that."
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