CSKA vs. UNICS Kazan: 84-76 (+8)
CSKA: De Colo (14 + 6 rb + 5 as + 3 st), Teodosic (17 + 10 as + 5 to), Fridzon (16 + 3 rb + 4 pf), Nichols (4), Jackson (2 + 3 rb), Korobkov (4 + 4 pf), Vorontsevich (8), Khryapa (4 + 4 rb + 5 as), Hines (15 + 5 rb + 4 pf)…
UNICS: Langford (16 + 6 rb + 4 as), Ponkrashov (15 + 4 as + 4 to), Parakhovskiy (7 + 7 rb + 2 bs), Colom (6 + 3 rb + 7 as), Lihodey (5 + 5 rb), Gubanov (2), Panin (8), Kaimakoglou (13 + 4 rb), Williams (4 + 3 rb + 5 pf)…
Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach:
Congratulations to the team with the first victory. I think you will agree with me that we controlled the game. Surely, we went a bit out of rhythm in the end, probably, because we had 8 days without game activities. UNICS tried to get back into game when we were up more than 15 points. Still we controlled the game in many aspects, we were determined and decisive. You should not forget that we play without Nikita Kurbanov in this series, but the other guys stepped up: Nichols played well, Fridzon, all others. It is great that we have many fans in the stands, and I would like to thank everyone out of 4050 spectators on behalf of the team. We will analyze our mistakes tomorrow and play with more energy in Game 2. I’d like also to congratulate Nando De Colo with his MVP award. I am proud that he is a part of our family. As he said, every player and member of the staff can be credited for the award. And of course, Nando’s dedication, character, professionalism. Talking about Cory Higgins, I would say that after the Euroleague Final Four he felt pains in his leg, we did the tests and it looked like the season is over for him. Still after two home games against Khimki he decided to practice on his own responsibility, he told us that he is ready. Theoretically he could play in the Game 3 of semifinals but we decided not to hurry and did not dress him. His case is one of the examples that we envision whole year. We created the atmosphere where everyone want to be on the court despite all the obstacles.
