By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Malcolm Delaney claimed the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 24 MVP award, Euroleague Basketball announced on Saturday. His 37 PIR for Barcelona in the win over Olimpia Milano ranked first among all players in action on Thursday and Friday. The Virginia Tech alumni poured a season-high 26 points alongside nine dimes, five rebounds and one steal.
Per EuroLeague: “Malcolm Delaney stepped up with one of the best performances in his Turkish Airlines EuroLeague career to guide FC Barcelona to an 84-80 come-from-behind win against AX Armani Exchange Milan and earn the MVP honor for Round 24. Delaney scored 18 of his 26 points in the second half while making 3 of 4 two-point shots and tying his career-best with 6 three-pointers made on 9 attempts. He also had 9 assists, 5 rebounds and 1 steal. His performance index rating of 37 was the highest by a Barcelona player this season and the second-best of Delaney’s career, good for his fourth MVP of the Round honor. Round 24’s next-best performance belonged to Anthony Randolph, who sparked Real Madrid’s wild 97-103 win at ALBA Berlin. Randolph’s 27 points, 19 of which came in the first quarter, marked his high in four seasons with Real. He also pulled down 6 rebounds on his way to a PIR of 33. DeShaun Thomas also had 27 points and 6 rebounds for a PIR of 30 as Panathinaikos OPAP Athens downed Zenit St Petersburg 96-81. Derrick Williams of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul filled his 29 PIR with 22 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 7 drawn fouls in a dramatic 77-78 loss to visiting Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv. Rounding out the list of Round 24’s top performances was Real’s Facundo Campazzo, who tied a EuroLeague record by dishing 19 assists, along with 10 points and 3 rebounds, for a PIR of 28.
Individual highs: Facundo Campazzo, Real, 19 assists
Three players scored 27 points in this round: Thomas, Randolph and his Real teammate Jaycee Carroll. Anadolu Efes Istanbul guard Shane Larkin remains the league’s scoring leader with 22.0 points per game. Olympiacos Piraeus center Nikola Milutinov had 12 rebounds, the most in Round 24, raising his league-leading average to 8.5. Campazzo made history by tying the EuroLeague single-game record with 19 assists. His season average of 7.2 assists is second only to Panathinaikos playmaker Nick Calathes, who dished 9.4 per game. Kostas Papanikolaou of Olympiacos had 5 steals, more than any player this round. Pierria Henry of KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz tops the steals charts with 1.8 per contest. Three players had 3 blocked shots in Round 24: Papanikolaou, Walter Tavares of Real and Wesley Johnson of Panathinaikos. Tavares is the top shot blocker this season with 2.2 on average. There were three double-doubles this round: Campazzo with 10 points and 19 assists, Milutinov with 11 points and 12 rebounds, and Baskonia’s Semaj Christon with 11 points and 11 assists.”