Euroleague: CSKA ends Madrid´s run

Round 4 of the Euroleague Last 16 opened on Thursday with five games from the two groups. The competition is now heating up as the best teams in the league begin to exert their dominance in both Group E and F.

Barcelona remains unbeaten at 4-0 thanks to a home win over fellow Spanish club Unicaja Malaga in Group E, while Fenerbahce got back to winning ways by outgunning Greek giant Panathinaikos in front of its home fans. In Group F Bayern Munich slipped to a home defeat against Galatasaray, while Maccabi Electra Tel-Aviv went 4-0 at the top of the table with a home victory over Partizan Belgrade.

However, the biggest game of the night and indeed the week was the mouth watering clash between old Euroleague rivals CSKA Moscow and Real Madrid. The game had extra spice as Madrid sought to protect a blockbuster winning streak that has been running since the start of the season, while CSKA wanted to lay down its Euroleague credentials with a home win over one of the tournament favourites.

CSKA Moscow vs. Real Madrid, 85-71

Real Madrid headed to Moscow knowing that a win would take its winning streak to 30, a run that extends through the season at home and abroad. However, Russian Euroleague contenders CSKA Moscow downed the Spanish club to claim a scalp and lay down a marker as one of the teams to beat this season. Madrid still has the pride of that 29 game winning run (the second longest in the Euroleague this century), but Los Blancos looked uncharacteristically off form at the USH CSKA. CSKA´s win came after a barnstorming first quarter and puts the club into second place in Group F with a 3-1 record, leapfrogging the defeated Madrid into 3rd also with 3-1.

First quarter

The teams started the game locked for the lead, with Madrid taking an early 2-3 advantage thanks to a long range effort from Tremmell Darden. However, CSKA responded to snatch the initiative only for Rudy Fernandez to find Darden to tie the game at 6-6. The hosts rallied on the back of Andrey Vorontsevich and Vitaly Fridzon to put some daylight between the teams at 11-6. From there Moscow continued to ascend and put together a mini 8-0 run on the way to a substantial 13 point lead at the end of the first period (23-10).

Second quarter

The home team started the second in much the same fashion in which it had ended the first and continued to dominate Madrid, this time thanks to a three pointer from Aaron Jackson. Madrid was struggling off the board and at this stage was losing 20-7 in rebounds, allowing Vorontsevich to extend the lead further with another basket from beyond the arc. Madrid however managed to keep in touch and ended the half trailing by 10 points, with the score board reading 40-30.

Third quarter

Darden was proving a thorn in CSKA´s side and he got Madrid back to within single digits at the start of the third with a couple of free throws. Ioannis Bourousis and Darden scored to put the score at 40-37 and we had a tight game again as Madrid looked resurgent. CSKA used a timeout to reorganize and came back with a 12-6 run that once again put the Russian club in control of the game, although not in total command. The Madrid players once again got themselves back into contention through baskets from Rodriguez and Nikola Mirotic, with the game sitting at 59-55 after 30 minutes.

Fourth quarter

The home team got the better of the game during the first minutes of the last period and carved out a 66-57 lead, while a triple from Fridzon helped to ease tension. CSKA started getting mean in defence and shut out Madrid time and time again while managing to secure scores from Sasha Kaun. The last minutes of the game became a flurry of downtown nets as tempers flared, but CSKA Moscow outpaced the Spanish visitors down the stretch to secure a famous win.

Nenad Krstic set the tone for CSKA with 18 points, while Andrey Vorontsevich and Vladimir Micov picked up 14 apiece. Although Vitaly Fridzon only collected 11 points he showed up with vital scores in the game.

Sergio Rodriguez continued his good form for Madrid by netting a game high 19 points. Also scoring in double figures for Los Blancos were Sergio Llull with 15, Nikola Mirotic with 13 and 11 important points for. Tremmell Darden