By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
CSKA Moscow prevailed over with an 81-80 victory in the rematch of last season’s championship game against Anadolu Efes for Round 15 of Turkish Airlines EuroLeague.
Mike James was the key player behind this important victory for CSKA and posted a game-high performance of 28 points, six rebounds, four assists for a PIR of 36. “It was fun. They are a good team obviously, they have been playing well for two years now. Really really at a high level. We knew it was going to be a competition tonight, we just came ready to play”, he said after the game.
On the other end of the court, Shane Larkin and Krunoslav Simor exited the game with 18 and 21 points each.
James signals CSKA’s comeback in the fourth period
CSKA led the first period with a short 23-22 advantage, as Efes came up strong in the second to get a 47-43 lead at halftime. The home team kept expanding its lead in the third period (66-59) until CSKA recovered with James and Voigtmann (15 points) leading the way. Kyle Hines (16 points) put the visitors in charge with 76-74 with three minutes to go. Efes managed to restore its lead, though a two-pointer by James with 17 seconds to go gave the victory to the Army Team.
“That is EuroLeague, you cannot underestimate or overestimate nobody. You got to go game by game. We need time, we are a new team. We are trying to build good bones. I think we are there. Time has to work with us but let’s be honest, it would be great to grow up with some wins”, commented Dimitris Itoudis after the game..
The aftermath
Efes falls to a 12-3 record, remaining on top of the standings at a tie with Real Madrid. On the other hand, CSKA Moscow improved to a 10-5 record.
Photo: EuroLeague