Withstanding an epic third quarter comeback, CSKA Moscow used a dominant final term to crush KK Zagreb of Croatia in Euroleague action. Missing one superstar and with two others having quiet nights, CSKA’s efforts proved they are the team to beat in this year’s competition. 

After seeing a double-digit lead turn into a late third quarter deficit, Moscow turned in a team effort to put Zagreb away, going up by as many as 17 points and eventually winning 87-74. Without Andrei Kirilenko and with near no show performances from Milos Teodosic and Nenad Krstic, CSKA turned to their role players who performed admirably admirably against the dwindling Croatian side.

Leading the way for the first three quarters was Jamont Gordon, a shooting guard who came into the game averaging only five points per contest. His average shooting performance the previous week against Bamberg had clearly been forgotten as Gordon dropped nine first quarter points and pressure Zagreb’s defense with his penetration and passing abilities. Gordon did most of his damage on pull-up long distanced twos but was also a threat off the dribble, scoring some points at the ring, making the highlight dunk of the night in transition, and hitting open team-mates off the dribble. Gordon finished with 18 points on 6-7 shooting inside the arc and 2-for-5 from outside. He also managed two rebounds and three assists while keeping Moscow competitive during the first three quarters.

Nenad Krstic, a no show through the first three quarters, finally produced in the fourth where he scored the majority of his 14 points and led the charge that put Zagreb to bed. Krstic doesn’t have an NBA out and will remain in Moscow for the entire season, something Moscow fans would surely have no gripes about. When Krstic is on his game, and he has been throughout the Euroleague (Krstic was awarded with the Euroleague MVP for November prior to the game), he is one of the best players of Euroleague. An elite post talent, Krstic has an offensive arsenal that is unmatched at this level and combined with size and ability, he is just about unstoppable. He used his talents in the low block to punish the Zagreb defenders and also caused problems with his outside jumper. It was a second straight ‘quiet’ game for Krstic though he still finished with 14 points and nine boards (four offensive), numbers that would put him in the elite upper echelon of Euroleague big man on most days anyway.

Last week’s hero, Milos Teodosic, was a complete mystery. He scored his only three points in opening term and contributed little else other than a whole lot of sulking in his 13 minutes of action. I am unsure why one of the competitions best point guards wasn’t really given much of an opportunity but luckily CSKA received some valuable contributions from some of their role guys. Sammy Mejia (Dominican Republic) had 13 points as he attacked and slashed his way into the heart of Zagreb defense and Andrey Vorontsevich was also helpful with 10 first half points on 5-5 shooting before disappearing to the rooms early in the second half with a suspected knee injury.

For the visitors, there weren’t really too many bright spots. Their two patches of good play (the first five minutes of the first quarter and the last seven of the third) were brilliant but the rest of the performance was pretty miserable. Zagreb’s best player was easily American, Josh Heytvelt, the athletic, sweet shooting forward out of Gonzaga. His 14 point third quarter (19 in total) actually brought Zagreb in front for a brief moment late in third as he nailed triple after triple. There’s a lot to like about Heytvelt, not only does shoot at an elite level, but he hits the glass hard and can help out of defense. He had an angry help side rejection, pinning a layup attempt off the glass, and showed a lot of defensive ability. He is still relatively young I expect big things from him in the future.

Krunoslav Simon was also good for Zagreb and finished with a game high 21 points. The guard out of Croatia showed a decent long distance jumper, making two early threes to start the game, but he went cold from long distance after that point and missed his only four other attempts. Averaging almost 15 points a game, Simon is a solid all-round contributor with nice ball handling ability, but he showed made some unintelligent decisions in this one and contributed turnovers and poor quality attempts throughout. One of the Euroleague’s top scorers, Simon has hit double figures in seven of the first eight games, but his decisions and turnovers are somewhat worrying. He’s averaging three turnovers a game with two outings already having featured five turnovers and another with four.

Speaking of the good and the bad, it’s about time we mentioned Sean May. Winner of the Most Outstanding Player of the 2005 NCAA tournament, the year his North Carolina squad won the national champion, May was once upon a time a lottery pick of the Charlotte Bobcats. The big bodied forward never made a real impact in the NBA and now finds himself playing in Croatia where he is third in rebounds and averages a solid 12 points per game. His offensive game was pretty decent in this one; he scored 13 points and missed only two shots inside the arc, but it was his ridiculous amount of confidence in his outside game that had me stunned. Going 1-6 from three point land, May kept firing away, even though he couldn’t be stopped when he ventured inside the paint and kept his back to the basket. What appeared to be an injured ankle (or it could be the extra weight he continues to carry around) noticeably slowed him down, but he made too many sloppy mistakes, especially failing to box out which led to CSKA gabbing offensive rebounds on multiple occasions, and was a liability on both ends at various points.

Zagreb didn’t have enough to keep up with CSKA and their loss effectively eliminates them from contention for the Round of 16. CSKA, on the other hand, are primed to make a run at the championship, and along with Barcelona, are looking to be the top team when it’s all said and done.

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