By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Two career-highs were on the spotlight during EuroLeague Round 29 action, as both Kevin Punter and Peyton Siva led their teams to respective wins with their stunning performances, to be named this week’s co-MVPs.
Per EuroLeague:
evin Punter of AX Armani Exchange Milan and Peyton Siva of ALBA Berlin led their respective teams to road victories on Thursday and, in the process, share their first career weekly MVP award by accumulating the highest performance index rating among winning players in Round 29.
Punter scored a career-high 32 points in a 76-84 win over CSKA Moscow, netting 4 of 7 two-point shots, 5 of 9 triples and all 9 of his free throws. He also added a rebound, an assist, a steal and drew 4 fouls for a PIR of 28.
Siva accumulated that same PIR, a career-high for him, after scoring a personal-best 21 points. He went 3-for-5 on two-pointers, 3-for-6 from deep and made 6 perfect free throws. Siva also had 7 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 5 fouls drawn.
FC Bayern Munich big man Jalen Reynolds had a career-high PIR of 34, the highest of all players this week, but that came in a 78-71 loss at TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. Reynolds scored 18 points on 8-for-11 two-point shooting, pulled down 10 rebounds, dished a career-high 7 assists, and had 2 steals. Two players had PIRs of 33 in losing efforts, Tornike Shengelia of CSKA Moscow and Errick McCollum of Khimki Moscow Region, who set his career-best with that performance. Shengelia collected 10 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high 4 steals in that home loss to Milan, while McCollum netted 29 points with a career-best 7 rebounds and 6 assists in a defeat against host Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade.
Individual highs: Pierria Henry, Baskonia, 10 assists
Milan guard Kevin Punter led all players this week with a career-high 32 points. CSKA guard Mike James remains the league leader in scoring with 19.5 points per game. Walter Tavares of Real Madrid and Zenit St Petersburg forward Mateusz Ponitka each pulled down 11 rebounds, the most this week. CSKA center Nikola Milutinov is the EuroLeague’s rebounding leader this season with 8.6 per game. Baskonia point guard Pierria Henry dished 10 assists, more than any other player this week. Khimki guard Alexey Shved tops the charts, averaging 8.1 assists. Three players had 4 steals this week: Shengelia, Shane Larkin of Anadolu Efes Istanbul and Giannoulis Larentzakis of Olympiacos Piraeus. Baskonia’s Henry leads the league with 1.8 steals per game. Milan center Kyle Hines led all players this week with 3 blocks. Georgios Papagiannis of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens is the top shot-blocker this season with 1.8 blocks on average. There were four double-doubles this week, by Ponitka who had 10 points plus 11 rebounds, Tavares with 16 points and 11 rebounds, Shengelia and Reynolds.