It took a while for Andrei Kirilenko and Russia to heat up, but once they did there was no way Portugal could stop them in the first game of Friday's qualifying round in Madrid.

Kirilenko had a game-high 16 points, pulled down four rebounds and dished out three assists as the Russians progressed to the quarter finals.

		Andrei Kirilenko had another big night for Russia with a game-high 16 points.

"I don't think we did a great job on the defensive end tonight but we won and that's the most important thing " said Kirilenko.

Kirilenko had great support from Victor Khryapa, who contributed 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Having scraped their way into the qualifying round after surprisingly beating Latvia, Portugal put up a brave fight but failed to keep up with the Russian machine.

Trailing 52-41 midway through the third quarter, Russia went on a 10-0 run, with JR Holden scoring five points in that surge, to take command.

"I'm just happy we got a win today," said Holden.

"This was important to put us on the way to the quarter-finals.

"But we still have some work to do. We got a little bit sloppy when we were up pretty big a lot of the second half. We need to clear some things up and get ready for Spain now."

Kirilenko scored eight points as his team went into the second quarter with a 16-13 lead.

Russia applied full-court pressure and went on a 5-0 run but Portugal hit back with Elvis Evora scoring the next five points to temporarily crash Russia's hopes of pulling away.

A three-ball by Zakhar Pashutin gave Russia their biggest lead at 36-20 with less than four minutes before the break.

Mario Fernandez's jumpshot allowed Portugal to trail 47-30 at half-time, with Kirilenko leading Russia in scoring with 12 points.

Portugal limited Russia to just two points in the first two minutes after the restart and reduced the deficit 48-37.

They would get no closer, though.

Russia went into the last stanza with a 68-49 advantage.

Portugal never gave up and reduced the deficit to 70-55 with eight minutes left to play but that is as close as they got.

Russia were superior shooting the ball from the floor, they were 29 of 59 (49%) while Portugal were 22 of 64(34%).

However, David Blatt's men struggled from the free-throw line, as they were 15 of 27 (56%) while Portugal were 15 of 16 (94%).

Portugal were outrebounded 41 to 37.

Portugal

Coach Valentyn: "We played three games against Russia. They are different than the former years. They have a new generation and a new coach. They play in a straight way. Russia is a very good team, with a very good defense. It's not easy for our team.

"I'm happy that my team is here in this round. This is good for us and all of Portuguese basketball, but lack of experience to play this very-very high level."

"Next game is against Israel and then Greece. We'll try to beat both teams."

"Kirilenko is one of the best players in the NBA. In 1999 he was MVP of the Junior world championship in Portugal. I know him for many years. He's a very good player and person, and the leader of the Russian team."

Forward Paulo Simao: "We had all the chances in the beginning to do better and scare them a little bit, but we missed too many shots. If we started the same way we started against Latvia, I think the final result would have been different."

"Russia is a great team. We had difficulties near the basket, and they have great payers. We should play better if we want to do better and that's our goal – to leave Eurobasket 2007 the image that we left in the game versus Latvia."

Russia

Coach David Blatt: "I want to compliment the Portuguese team. We played them by chance two times in the preparations. Now it's the third. No one expected to see them here. They played very good against Croatia and beat Latvia in a great game. They have done a great job. They deserve good words from everybody."

"We came ready for the game and respected our opponents. That's why we won. Portugal is very tough. They control the ball offensively and play you hard on defense. They don't allow you to play. We played right just didn't play well. It wasn't one of our best games here, but anytime you win in EuroBasket you need to be happy."

"Generally speaking we can have 24 hours before we'll play the best team in the world right now. Every game in this round is so important that you can't really look back or forward."

"Most of this team was together since last year in the qualifications. Most of my staff was with me as well. It helps us a lot but it's not enough. People must want to come and give."

"Our aggressiveness comes from practice. It's something that you teach, and sell to your players hoping they'll buy it. They saw we win this way, so that made them do it even more."

"I spoke both with Kirilenko and Khryapa before we started. Even though they came a little late we asked them to come truly committed, and told them that if they don't want to be committed they cannot come. Kirilenko said he loves to play for the national team, and he wants to come. Khryapa played in the qualification round although he was hurt and it showed his commitment."

"You got to do a lot of things to stop Spain. They have great coach, players. They play fast and move the ball. They don't depend on one player. They rebound on offense. They do pretty much everything you need to do to score the ball. So far we've done a good job limiting our opponents but Spain will be our biggest challenge."

Forward Sergey Monya: "Today we had a very important game. We beat Portugal and got fourth win in a row. We played a good game today, and expect our next game against Spain. It will be a different team. They are very good and favorites to win the title. They almost have no experience. They have three NBA players and it will be very important for us, and we'll be ready."

"We haven't won a medal for a long time, and we're ready this time because everybody is hungry, and other than two players nobody won a medal. There are 10 players which are very-very hungry for a medal."

The clear favourites are Russia, the underdogs are Portugal.

So what’s new? Nothing.

But judging from how unpredictable this EuroBasket has been so far, take nothing for granted when these two sides meet in today's first game of the qualifying round of the competition in Madrid.

Russia, with Andrei Kirilenko among the tournament’s leading scorers and the top rebounder with an average of 14 a game, have brushed aside all three of their opponents so far - Serbia, Israel and the defending champions Greece.

They take on a Portugal side that was dead and buried in Group B after two games – or so we thought.

The Portuguese did not become discouraged and upset Latvia, but only advanced when Croatia beat Spain – the first defeat for the world champions since EuroBasket 2005.

		Da Silva's match-up with Holden is one to watch carefully

“It’s a big moment for us,” said Portuguese guard Filipe da Silva.

Let it be noted that the Portugal team did sing on the train ride from Seville to Madrid in the early morning hours of Thursday.

“It’s a big moment for basketball in Portugal,” da Silva added. “We’re going to give it our best, and we’re going to see.”

Last Time Out: Portugal beat Latvia 77-67 while Russia thumped Greece 61-53.

Key Match-ups: Battle of the guards, Filipe da Silva v JR Holden. 

Statistics: Portugal are No 1 in the EuroBasket in one category they’d rather not be – turnovers. With 56 in three games, their 18.7 average is far more than Russia’s 12.3.

Speaking Out: “They're a good team. They've been in every game so far. They're kind of similar to us in that they're tall at the two and three positions and kind of athletic. So I think we'll be in for a tough game. But as long as we play together and stay consistence as far as defensively, I think we'll be fine.” – JR Holden.