RUS - CSKA hammer Khimki in finals opener

MOSCOW (SUPERLEAGUE A) - CSKA Moscow handed BC Khimki an 89-58 defeat in Game 1 of the Russian League finals.

And the reigning champions, chasing their eighth consecutive domestic title, have a chance to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series when they host Game 2 on Friday evening.

CSKA played near-perfect basketball for the better part of the first half and that proved to be the difference. Through the game's first 17 minutes, they hit all eight of their field goal attempts from inside the arc and connected on eight of 12 tries from long range.

The home side led 26-14 at the end of the first quarter. They ran the offense early and often through big man Sasha Kaun and it proved an astute move as it forced the visitors' zone defense to collapse on him, allowing Ramunas Sisauska, JR Holden and Trajan Langdon to put on a three-point shooting display.

Vitaliy Fridzon, Kelly McCarty and Raul Lopez combined to help Khimki score nine unanswered points late in the first half that cut the deficit to 47-33 before Langdon beat the second quarter buzzer.

The American still had the hot hand after the break and CSKA used a 12-0 spurt - capped off by a Siskauskas three-pointer - to stretch their advantage to 69-46 heading into the final frame.

Khimki kept fighting in the fourth quarter, but the outcome of the game was already decided and CSKA turned on the style with Pops Mensah-Bonsu providing the highlight of the night with an alley-oop dunk.

Langdon finished with 20 points and hit on four of his five three-point attempts. Siskauskas added 13 and Viktor Khryapa displayed his versatility yet again, scoring 11 points, collecting 11 rebounds and handing out five assists.

Fridzon had 15 points to pace Khimki.

FIBA