By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
CSKA Moscow prevailed in the end (93-84) as the Italians tried to fight, but couldn’t keep up until the end. The “Army team” despite a bad start in the game, avoided a shock in the premiere of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. And “Chacho” is back…
The star: Sergio Rodriguez proved that he returned to Europe in order to lead. He did this with 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 3 assists, even if he proved to be rusty and also got two turnovers and just 4/12 two-pointers. What matters is that he had the ball in his hands and took all the crucial decisions.
The key: Will Clyburn did all the simple things and much, much more. He was the only player of CSKA Moscow who stayed on the court for more than 30 minutes and finished the game with a double-double (15 points, 12 rebounds). Nando De Colo also did his part with 19 points and Cory Higgins had 21.
The turning point: Milano has its last lead with seven minutes left in the game (70-69). CSKA Moscow had an 11-2 run in the next three minutes which decided the game (80-72).
The guests opened the game with a 16-6 run after less than four minutes of action with Vladimir Micov making two threes in his first two attempts. Τhe first period ended with Milano having a 14 points lead (30-16) having in total 12 made shots in 17 attempts and playing stellar basketball.
CSKA reacted as expected and they opened the second period on an 8-3 run (33-24). Ηowever, the Italians kept the lead and closed the first half with a 10 points advantage (48-38) with Andrew Goudelock having 11 points and Micov adding 10.
That was not the last word of the hosts. With a 13-3 partial score, they tied the score at 51 in the middle of the third and got a 61-60 lead thanks to the Higgins who scored 19 points in 20 minutes of action. Milano closed the period by taking the lead again (62-61) and everything was decided in the last quarter. CSKA Moscow’s defense made the difference as Micov (16 p.) and Goudelock (17 p.) couldn’t do much in the second half.