CSKA — Khimki, 05 February 2018

CSKA vs. Khimki Moscow region: 90-71 (+19)

CSKA: De Colo (24 + 6 rb + 6 as + 3 to), Fridzon (3), Antonov (10), Rodriguez (3), Vorontsevich (17 + 4 rb), Clyburn (6 + 4 rb + 5 as), Higgins (13 + 3 rb + 5 as), Kulagin (3), Kurbanov (11 + 7 rb)…

Khimki: Shved (18 + 4 rb + 5 as + 2 bs + 4 pf), Honeycutt (4 + 6 rb), Markovic (10), Monya (9 + 6 rb + 2 bs), Gill (10 + 4 rb + 4 pf), Anderson (8), Jenkins (4 + 4 pf), Thomas (8 + 6 rb + 3 to + 4 pf)…

Congratulations to the team. The game began with a shocking situation, when Othello Hunter got injured. Given Kyle hurt his calf muscle against Real (he doesn’t even know when it happened), and Pasha is still rehabbing, we were essentially without a center. Nonetheless, we were prepared and practiced with forwards at the center position, and five ’small’ players. The team showed its character and unity even though it was far-far away from its comfort zone. I’d say we felt comfortable in an uncomfortable situation. And, like I said after the win over Panathinaikos, games like these help you gain confidence, galvanize your character and force some extra qualities out of the players. Overall, we were better today. We won three quarters and held on in the third quarter when Khimki tried to come back to secure an important win. Also, congrats to our fans, who helped us with their support.