Dynamo Moscow secured a crucial away victory in the Eurocup Group I by beating Khimki 69-77 to improve to 2-0 in the Last 16 group. Khimki grabbed the lead early with a 9-0 first quarter run, but Moscow answered with a 0-12 second quarter surge. Dynamo allowed just 8 points in the third quarter and made 6 of 6 free throws in the final 33 seconds to ice the win, which drops Khimki to 0-2 and in a very dangerous position of missing out on the Final Eight. Travis Hansen led Dynamo with 24 points while Bostjan Nachbar had 13 points, Sergey Monya 11 and Sergey Bykov and Robertas Javtokas each chipped in 10 points for the winners. Khimki stayed in the game by making 11 three-pointers and nearly came back from an 11-point fourth quarter deficit. But it was not enough despite 27 points from Kelly McCarty. Jorge Garbajosa added 15 points and 10 rebounds as the only other scorer in double figures for Khimki, which was missing injured guard Carlos Delfino.

Both teams started off on fire from the field and combined to make their first six shots as Khimki led 8-6 thanks to early triples from McCarty and Garbajosa. Mike Wilkinson’s lay-in made it 10-6 and layups by Vitaly Fridzon and Milt Palacio completed a 9-0 run for a 14-6 advantage and a Dynamo timeout. Hansen’s steal and layup ended the Khimki surge. Bykov’s layup after a turnover was followed by a Hansen jumper to bring Moscow within 14-12 with four minutes left in the first quarter. Both teams picked up their defensive pressure and also clearly were missing their main offensive playmakers. And the only basket the rest of the period was McCarty’s alley-oop dunk on the break as Khimki led 16-12 after 10 minutes. Darjus Lavrinovic’s hook started the second quarter and both teams were back in offensive form. Ratko Varda’s lay-in off the glass pushed the hosts ahead 22-16. But Dynamo made its comeback. Monya drained a triple and Hansen nailed a jumper from the right corner. Then Nachbar finally scored his first point of the game from the free throw line. Monya followed with a steal and dunk and Nachbar hit the next four points to make it 22-28 and finish a 0-12 run. Palacio made a three-pointer for Khimki’s first score after six unsuccessful possessions to cut the deficit to 25-28. Teemu Rannikko would follow with a trey of his own and the game was knotted at 30-30 on Garbajosa’s long two-point shot. Javtokas’s jumper put Moscow back ahead but Rannikko drained a triple from the left corner and two Garbajosa foul shots gave Khimki a 37-33 lead at the break.

Khimki committed two offensive foul turnovers to start the second half and Javtokas cut the advantage to 37-35. But Garbajosa hit a three-ball for a 40-35 lead. Hansen and Monya sandwiched jumpers around a Javtokas offensive rebound to give Dynamo back the lead 40-41. Garbajosa knocked down a long ball to try and keep Khimki in the game. But Bykov nailed a trey and after McCarty missed two foul shots, Hansen’s long two-point shot made it 43-49. Garbajosa again stopped the bleeding with a driving lay-up but Dmitry Domani’s three-ball gave Dynamo a 45-52 advantage after three quarters. Nachbar’s free throws extended the lead to nine points to start the fourth. McCarty nailed a three-ball to make it 48-54. Lavrinovic and Varda swapped baskets and Monya put in a lay-in after two Khimki players lost a defensive rebound. Varda made it 52-58 but Lavrinovic hit again and Hansen converted a three-point play for an 11-point lead 52-63. McCarty converted a three-point play of his own only to see Hansen knock down a triple at the other end to re-establish the 11-point advantage. But Khimki had one more run left as McCarty and Rannikko both nailed triples and McCarty scored a driving lay-up to complete a 10-0 run and bring the hosts within 65-66. Nachbar, however, nailed a three-ball and then Monya hit a tip-in and the lead was back to 65-71. And Hansen and Bykov combined for 6 of 6 free throws in the final 33 seconds to secure the victory.

David Blatt, BC Dynamo head coach: — It was a great game against strong team. Now our team is playing better than even before. We lost some players, but BC Khimki has big problems of its own with the roster. This victory can't guarantee anything, but will help us in attaining our objective.

Sergio Scariolo, BC Khimki head coach:
— I congratulate Dynamo on the victory. Taking into account our not-so-good physical situation, we didn't play bad. But two mistakes on defense at the end of the match allowed Dynamo to take a six-point lead. It was just the second game in this Eurocup round. We have problems, but we are trying to improve. The most important thing is that our team has character and players are fighting. We have chances to reach next round.


Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Eurocupbasketball.net