By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Nikola Milutinov scored a season-high 19 points while grabbing 12 rebounds for also a season-best 36 PIR as CSKA Moscow beat Zalgiris Kaunas 73 – 51 on the road. The Army men registered their fourth win in a row while the Kaunas side lost at home for the first time after three straight wins in Zalgirio arena.
“I’m feeling good. I’m still trying to find myself after all that happened to me. I’m happy I could help the team,” said Milutinov right after the game. The Serbian center returned to form with his top scoring performance with the CSKA jersey and one of his most dominant displays overall as a player of the Russian team after struggling in the first months of the season and missing several games due to injury problems.
Alexey Shved added 17 points for that CSKA turned the switch on its defense in the second half to expand a 28 – 30 lead at the break to 39 – 57 at the end of the third quarter. Zalgiris scored six unanswered points to cut the margin to 12 at the beginning of the fourth period but their opponents didn’t allow them to get any closer.
Josh Nebo (11 points, seven rebounds) was the only Zalgiris player in double figures. Arturas Milaknis and Tyler Cavanaugh scored nine apiece for the Lithuanian side that committed 14 out of its 19 turnovers in a destructive second half.
While CSKA wasn’t anywhere near as effective on offense as in other games this season, they took a lot from their opponents’ mistakes by scoring 20 of their 71 points off turnovers while getting 12 second-chance points from their 14 offensive boards.