After a three-game road trip in which the Russian champs lost twice, CSKA bounced back to remain undefeated at home and improve to 10-2 on the season. Daniel Hackett led the way with a season-high 14 points, Sergio Rodriguez contributed 12 points and 5 assists, Cory Higgins added 11 on 8-of-8 shooting from the free throw line and Nando De Colo and Will Clyburn netted 10 points apiece. Stefan Markovic paced Khimki with 18 points, Malcolm Thomas scored 15, Jordan Mickey 14 and Tony Crocker 13. The loss saw Khimki's record slip to 4-8.

The teams traded baskets early, with Hackett standing out for the hosts, but Thomas giving Khimki a 9-13 edge. CSKA responded with 12 unanswered points – 5 from supersub Rodriguez – and coasted to a 24-17 lead after 10 minutes. Joel Bolomboy's slam gave the hosts their first double-digit lead, 31-20, three minutes into the second quarter. Crocker gave Khimki hope with 6 quick points and Mickey's free throws closed the gap to 34-30. CSKA regrouped after a timeout and Othello Hunter restored a double-digit lead. Free throws by Thomas got Khimki within 7 before Higgins set the halftime score on 49-40. Kyle Hines scored 4 points, grabbed a steal and dished an assist in a 12-0 run as the lead CSKA swelled to 66-44 midway through the third quarter. Little changed after that with Rodriguez making it 75-53 through three quarters. Dee Bost sparked Khimki on a 2-9 start to the fourth quarter. Back-to-back triples by Mikhail Kulagin and Hackett put CSKA back on track en route to a convincing victory.

Impact performers
Daniel Hackett got CSKA going with 6 early points en route to a season-high 14. He missed only 2 shots. Kyle Hines played a near flawless 15 minutes in which he dished 5 assists, which is 1 short of his career-high.

Turning point
Khimki was down 10 early in the fourth quarter when Jordan Mickey was assessed with an unsportsmanlike foul on Kyle Hines. The CSKA big man made the shots, scored on the resulting possession and then stole a pass that was intended for Mickey, which led to a Nikita Kurbanov layup. It became a 12-0 run, extended the margin to 66-44 and Khimki never came closer than 14 again.

Khimki's excellence from the line
Khimki did not miss in 23 trips to the free-throw line, which marked the third-most free throws made by a team without a miss in competition history. Real Madrid set the mark with 34 makes against Ural Great in March 2002 and Fenerbahce Istanbul was perfect on 25 free throw attempts against Zalgiris Kaunas in March of last season. On Thursday, Malcolm Thomas made 7 and Jordan Mickey and Stefan Markovic made 6 each.

Next games
Both teams begin the two-round week next week on the road. CSKA visits Fenerbahce Istanbul on Tuesday and Khimki travels to Tel Aviv to face Maccabi on Wednesday.