CSKA vs. Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul: 95-85 (+10)
CSKA: De Colo (17 + 8 as), Teodosic (20 + 10 as), Augustine (8 + 3 rb + 2 bs), Fridzon (7 + 2 bs), Jackson (2 + 4 as), Vorontsevich (8), Higgins (6 + 4 rb), Khryapa (8 + 8 rb + 4 as + 4 pf), Kurbanov (2 + 3 rb + 2 bs), Hines (17 + 8 rb + 2 bs)…
Darussafaka: Wilbekin (26), Batuk (3 + 2 bs), Wanamaker (10 + 3 rb + 6 as + 3 st + 6 to), Clyburn (13 + 5 rb + 4 pf), Moerman (9 + 6 rb), Aldemir (10 + 10 rb), Anderson (10), Zizic (3 rb), Harangody (4)…
Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA head coach:
I would like to congratulate my team for its accomplishments and an excellent performance; we were the better team on the court. When you manage to beat a team with such a big roster and versatile players – when I say versatile, they do have the quality and size to play small ball, big ball, with a big three man, a big five, a small five, so they have versatile formations. We managed to limit them to 35 points in the first half and led us to a good start, giving us the confidence in our defense. Unfortunately, we lacked mobility in the third quarter; they hit some big shots and scored 27 points. We controlled the game in the fourth quarter and finished the game with almost 30 assists against such a team with big wingspans, big rotations and a lot of switches. My guys found the way to find good passes and make good plays. Having 28 assists was big; Nando and Teo combined for 18. It shows how we respect each other; we play for the guy who is open and try to find the best possible options offensively. We started this new EuroLeague with a lot of hesitations; how to get into it, what is going on, how is it going to look – and three games before the end of the regular season, we qualified with the home-court advantage in the playoffs, which is an achievement. We are not going to stop here. We have to continue playing seriously. Once again, congratulations and I would like to say ’thank you’ to our fans. They were very enthusiastic and like our team’s performance. I would like to say ’thank you’ to them.
Kyle Hines, CSKA Moscow center:
It was not an easy game today. We did a lot thanks to our creators – Milos, Jack, Cory, Nando and also Victor and assists they made. They played really well and made great opportunities for all of us. It was the biggest key of the win.
