By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
CSKA Moscow saw a 22-point lead getting almost completely erased by Maccabi Tel Aviv but ultimately held on to win 80 – 84 and capture its second straight victory on the road.
Tornike Shengelia helped CSKA lock the win with a pair of free throws with five seconds to play and after Tyler Dorsey (20 points) hit the 3-pointer for the 80 – 82, the closest Maccabi came to CSKA after trailing 39 – 61 in the mid of the third period.
“We kind of let the game get away for us,” CSKA Moscow forward Will Clyburn said. He finished with a game-high 21 points and five rebounds. “That’s the game of basketball. We made some mental mistakes in the second half but we got away with the win.”
Maccabi scored nine unanswered points quickly in the beginning of the fourth period to make it a single digit game (56-68) and then approached at a shooting distance when Sandy Cohen made it 75 – 78 from beyond the arc. The hosts missed a couple of opportunities to get closer and tie the match while Darrun Hilliard (17 points) made a key bucket for the 75 – 81.
After a basket by Othello Hunter (14 points, 10 rebounds), Clyburn made 1-2 from the line before Dorsey’s late triple and Shengelia’s win-sealing free throws.
“I think tonight, it is obvious that the second period was the game, because in that period, we didn’t produce on offense,” Maccabi coach Giannis Sfairopoulos said. “We missed some layups, we turned the ball over in the beginning of the period. They scored twice on the fast break and got a 7-8 point lead and then we panicked and didn’t execute well on offense, and that also hurt our defense. It was obvious that we collapsed in this period and this is, for me, the most important thing that we need to improve, not to have those moments. ”
Another upset averted
It almost looked like a deja-vu for CSKA Moscow. The Army Men had also seen Olympiacos Piraeus coming back from a big deficit against them before ultimately escaping with the road win.
“I would like to, obviously, congratulate my team for another win on the road,” CSKA coach Dimitris Itoudis. “We dictated the tempo for three quarters and in the third quarter, we were up by double digits. Today, even though we could find a lot of similarities with the game we played in Athens (against Olympiacos), it was a totally different game today. We had good ball movement, open looks, good touches in the paint. The only thing that I regret was when we were also playing small ball, we were not going that motivated to go and get offensive boards, because the shots were pretty good, well-taken. It is very important for us, in this moment, when we have people that people back from injury and new players, to grab wins, so congratulations to the team for another road win. We have one more upcoming road game in Turkey. And good luck to Maccabi.”
Photo: EuroLeague Basketball