1-0 without the captain

CSKA withstood very difficult and not so pleasant teeter-game against Khimki getting the first victory in Russian Championship playoffs final series.

CSKA vs. Khimki Moscow Region : 80-74

Ettore Messina, CSKA Moscow head coach:

“It was a difficult game against excellent team which has a lot of ways to score points. We were without Smodis and our inside game suffered. We could not compensate his absence in scoring from under the basket. I hope we will get better in this tomorrow, especially Lorbek who played below par, because I don’t expect Smodis to play. We are only 1-0 right now and the series can be very long.”

Sergio Scariolo, BC Khimki head coach:

“My congratulations to CSKA, which was better in the deciding moments of the game. I think, our team showed good game overall, step by step we were decreasing the gap in experience and skills which CSKA had in the beginning, but it was not enough. The game was decided by some small moments in the end. But don't be so tragical about it – we are only 1-0 down and we play the second game tomorrow… In my opinion Ponkrashov had a very good season, and I don’t agree that he is playing worse in the playoffs. He is still young and he plays up and down. He should mature mentally and I think he is on his way… I don’t want to talk about refereeing, especially when the referees are not here – that’s just not in my style. I can say only that if you are in the movie, you should follow the screenplay.”