Real Madrid vs. CSKA Moscow, 93-79

A clash of the titans on Thursday threw together Real Madrid and CSKA Moscow in the Spanish capital. Real exacted revenge on CSKA for the defeat a few weeks ago and in the process bounced back from a disappointing defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich last week. Despite the loss, CSKA Moscow stayed top of Group F; although both clubs are locked with a record of 9-2, well in front of the chasing pack.

Both teams have defeated each other in this season´s Euroleague Top 16 by 14 points, but Madrid holds a better record over the other teams in the group. The two giants of the continent will no doubt be among the clubs taking their place for the Final Four in Milan on this evidence.

First quarter
Madrid wasted no time in getting on the board as Sergio Llull drove to the basket to give the hosts the first lead of the game at 2-0. Sasha Kaun nailed from inside to level for CSKA, but Tremmell Darden struck from downtown and was followed by Rudy Fernandez from distance to give Real an early 8-2 advantage. After a timeout the visitors began cutting into the deficit with baskets from Sonny Weems and Vladimir Micov (10-8) before Jeremy Pargo sunk a triple to give the Russian club its first lead. Pargo was pacing CSKA in the first period and claimed the next two nets for the club, although Madrid kept touch and retook the lead through Ioannis Bourousis and Fernandez with a three point free throw play (16-15). For the remainder of the quarter the teams traded blows until nothing could separate them after 10 minutes, with the scores locked at 24 apiece.

Second quarter
Nenad Krstic started the second quarter with a basket to restore Moscow´s lead, with the board reading 24-26. However, the game had become very tight as Sergio Rodriguez typically supplied Fernandez with an alley-oop pass that was duly slammed away. Fernandez was moving into another gear as he rattled the hoop with another dunk, but Vitaly Fridzon nailed from beyond the arc to maintain CSKA´s slender lead at 28-29. Fernandez was on fire and responded with his own three point effort and Felipe Reyes capped a mini 5-0 run to give the hosts a 33-29 lead. A timeout by the Russians spurred the team back into action thanks to Weems, who sandwiched a Madrid basket with a triple and two lay-ups to put Moscow back in charge at 35-36. The teams traded baskets late in the first half, but Salah Mejri blocked a Krstic dunk attempt to send Llull down the court for a lay-up. Summers continued his strong personal performance for CSKA, but as the buzzer sounded in Spain the home team held a small 42-41 by the midway point.

Third quarter
CSKA sent Bourousis to the free throw line early in the second half and he was perfect to extend Madrid´s lead. Los Blancos followed with a Fernandez lay-up to make it a five point game at 46-41. For the third quarter in succession Moscow used a timeout to reorganize and the team came out and reeled off the next 8 points thanks to a dunk from Weems and five points at the hands of Krstic (46-48). Mirotic tied Madrid at 48-48 before Fernandez went on another spurt with an eye-catching inside play, a free throw, and then a breakaway two. The series of plays gave Real Madrid another 5-0 run and put the game at 53-48 on the scoreboard. Rudy continued to bring his A game with a triple and then Tremmell Darden dunked home to give Madrid a 10-run and a commanding lead of 58-48. When in doubt call a timeout was the CSKA plan and once again the Russian powerhouse emerged from a stop to claw themselves out of trouble. Once again Weems was the go to guy with a downtown score and a lay-up that reduced the deficit to 58-53. Madrid continued to find the net and while Weems was driving Moscow the margin remained at five points by the end of 30 minutes, with the score reading 66-61.

Fourth quarter
Weems carried his stellar performance into the final stanza as he opened the fourth quarter by cutting the lead to three points (66-63). However, Madrid had sniffed blood and was aiming for a big finish, with Darden hitting from downtown to give the home team a six point lead. CSKA carved into the advantage until the score stood at 73-68, but the Russian powerhouse could not get closer. Los Blancos made it a double digit game at 78-68 as Rodriguez and Fernandez scored to put the home team in charge. Despite the continued scoring of Weems, Madrid managed to keep that healthy lead as the minutes wound down, and even secured a 14 point win to match CSKA´s success over the Spanish giant a few weeks ago.

Fernandez grabbed a personal best 28 points as he pushed a Madrid team that secured a Euroleague record by committing just 2 turnovers in the entire game. Also scoring well for the winners was Mirotic with 15 points, while Llull, Rodriguez, and Bourousis took 10 each.

Weems was in great form for CSKA Moscow and picked up 28 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists for the losing team. Krstic added 14 and Pargo 10 points for the Russian club.