CSKA -----Basketball !

CSKA won the opening tip, but committed a turnover in its first possession, which allowed Sani Becirovic to open the scoring for Panathinaikos by hitting a five-meter shot at the other end. CSKA needed almost 2 minutes to score, but a three-pointer by J.R. Holden gave his team a 2-3 lead. Becirovic buried another mid-range shot, while CSKA tried to get Aleksey Savrasenko involved due to his size advantage over Batiste. It was Batiste, however, who scored down low, while another CSKA turnover caused coach Ettore Messina to call timeout down 6-3. Oscar Torres collected back-to-back steals, but CSKA was having severe problems scoring. Papaloukas came off the bench and was guarded by Siskauskas, while Diamantidis took care of Langdon. Siskauskas made free throws, but Torres answered from downtown to cut the CSKA deficit to 8-6 midway through the opening period. Diamantidis fed Hatzivrettas in the corner for a triple, but Papaloukas found Thomas Van den Spiegel for a two-handed dunk. Diamantidis fired one in from downtown and added another layup, good for a 16-8 Panathinaikos lead. Smodis made the most of Panathinaikos's defensive mismatches and hit 4 free throws, but Batiste sank a fall-away jumper to keep the Greens in charge, 18-12. A five-meter jumper by Langdon and a huge three-point play by Papaloukas got CSKA within 18-17 at the end of an intense first quarter.
CSKA won the opening tip, but committed a turnover in its first possession, which allowed Sani Becirovic to open the scoring for Panathinaikos by hitting a five-meter shot at the other end. CSKA needed almost 2 minutes to score, but a three-pointer by J.R. Holden gave his team a 2-3 lead. Becirovic buried another mid-range shot, while CSKA tried to get Aleksey Savrasenko involved due to his size advantage over Batiste. It was Batiste, however, who scored down low, while another CSKA turnover caused coach Ettore Messina to call timeout down 6-3. Oscar Torres collected back-to-back steals, but CSKA was having severe problems scoring. Papaloukas came off the bench and was guarded by Siskauskas, while Diamantidis took care of Langdon. Siskauskas made free throws, but Torres answered from downtown to cut the CSKA deficit to 8-6 midway through the opening period. Diamantidis fed Hatzivrettas in the corner for a triple, but Papaloukas found Thomas Van den Spiegel for a two-handed dunk. Diamantidis fired one in from downtown and added another layup, good for a 16-8 Panathinaikos lead. Smodis made the most of Panathinaikos's defensive mismatches and hit 4 free throws, but Batiste sank a fall-away jumper to keep the Greens in charge, 18-12. A five-meter jumper by Langdon and a huge three-point play by Papaloukas got CSKA within 18-17 at the end of an intense first quarter.