Euroleague final: CSKA Moscow 91, Maccabi Tel Aviv 77
By Steve Klein
Trajan Langdon led CSKA Moscow last night to its sixth European club championship as the team rode to a convincing 91-77 victory. Though the game was a tight match throughout the first half, Moscow dictated the pace in the third quarter and blew it open in the final period by holding Maccabi scoreless for nearly five minutes. Langdon, who scored 17 first-half points, symbolically ended the game with the final basket.
During the first half, Maccabi roamed the paint while CSKA roamed the perimeter. Maccabi held a 24-8 advantage in the paint as it shot a sizzling 16 for 26 in the first two quarters and held the normally productive Ramunas Siskaukus to two points. The problem was that CSKA more than compensated with a barrage of three-pointers. The most dangerous player for CSKA was Langdon, the former Duke star. The Alaskan buried three trifectas as the team shot 6-for-13 from beyond the arc.
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The game started off promising enough with Maccabi running off the first five points. However, CSKA charged ahead with seven unanswered points to take its first lead of the contest, setting the tone for a close half. While CSKA managed to work the lead up to seven at 38-31 with 4:06 to go in the second quarter, Maccabi closed out the period with a 10-4 run as Bynum took the final shot for himself for a three-pointer and even drew a foul from Langdon in the process. But he could not convert the free throw to notch a tie.
At halftime, CSKA coach Eltore Messina admitted his team had to be "more careful with the pick and roll," which had allowed Maccabi to make "too many drives to the basket." Maccabi's Bynum said on television at the break that his team had conceded "too many second-chance points." He added that "they're killing us with it."
As the second half unfolded it became clear that while CSKA figured out how to close the lanes, CSKA's deadly perimeter game had opened up Maccabi's defense. Though CSKA couldn't push the lead into double figures, it clearly took control during the third quarter. Only a trifecta by Bynum - who seemed to be singlehandedly holding together Maccabi's offense - kept Tel Aviv within a respectable distance at 63-57.
However, Maccabi's game unraveled in the final quarter as CSKA was able to penetrate on offense and pester on defense. Tel Aviv started the half with a 4 minute, 37 second drought, broken by none other than Bynum. By that time Tel Aviv had dug itself into a 73-59 deficit, and though the team went on a six-point run it couldn't cut the lead back to single digits. CSKA practically toyed with Tel Aviv during the closing minutes.
The game was clearly over with 1:15 to go when CSKA followed an Omri Casspi free throw with a length-of-the-floor lob to Theodoros Papaloukas for an easy basket. Bynum finished with 23 points on 7-of-13 shooting in the losing effort.
Siena claims third
Reuters adds: Italy's Montepaschi Siena took third place in the Euroleague Final Four with a 97-93 overtime victory against local club Tau Ceramica in yesterday's consolation game. Siena's Ksistof Lavrinovic notched a game-high 19 points and was backed by Terrell McIntyre with 16, as Simone Pianigiani's side matched their 2003 achievement in a nail-biting finish.
Tau's Mirza Teletovic bagged 11 first-quarter points to help the Spaniards to a 41-38 halftime lead, but the Italians fought back to level at 61 apiece going into the fourth period.
Seven straight points from Tiago Splitter put Tau on the brink of victory at 79-78 with a minute to go, but a foul on Lavrinovic sent the Lithuanian center to the free throw line. He only managed to level the score, missing his second shot. Zoran Planinic burst down the court on the counter but his buzzer-time effort bounced off the rim and the match went into overtime.
A Lavrinovic shot from outside the arc gave Siena a two-point lead in the 43rd minute and another six points without reply made the decisive break as they held on for the win. Pete Mickeal led Tau with 16 points but could not prevent his team from finishing fourth for the second year in a row.
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