By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
William Howard stunned Monaco, his ASVEL teammates and the EuroLeague fans with a crazy game-winner from the middle of the court to seal a career-high night in the EuroLeague.
Howard paced ASVEL with a double-double of 23 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals for a PIR of 33 and wins the Round 12 MVP award.
Per EuroLeague:
William Howard of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne will never forget his Round 12 performance against AS Monaco. Howard led ASVEL to a thrilling 84-85 victory, burying the game-winning shot from almost midcourt and earning the Round 12 MVP honor in the process.
Howard finished the game with career highs of 23 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals and a performance index rating of 33 that was the highest among all EuroLeague players this round. He was also near-perfect while shooting in 3 of 5 two-pointers, 5 of 5 triples and 2 of 4 free throws. He topped it all off with what was arguably one of the most spectacular game-winning shots in competition history to claim the MVP of the Round honor for the first time in his EuroLeague career.
Georgios Papagiannis of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens followed with a PIR of 31, his new career-high, in a 70-64 home win over Zenit St Petersburg. Papagiannis tied his personal best with 18 points, making 8-of-9 two points shots, and also posted 13 rebounds and 4 blocks, both of them the second-best totals of his career. Darrun Hilliard of FC Bayern Munich had a PIR of 30 in a road loss against his former team, CSKA Moscow. Hilliard netted 28 points on 6-for-10 three-point shooting and had 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks. The next-best PIR, 29, belonged to Shane Larkin of Anadolu Efes Istanbul, whose 25 points, 7 assists and 2 steals paced a road win over city rival Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul. Scottie Wilbekin of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv and Shavon Shields of AX Armani Exchange Milan, each with a PIR of 28 in losing efforts, completed the top individual performances in Round 12.
Individual highs: Georgios Papagiannis, Panathinaikos, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks
Darrun Hilliard scored 28 points to lead all players in Round 12. Elie Okobo of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne continues as the league’s overall scoring leader at 18.9 points per game. Papagiannis had 13 rebounds, the most this round. He improved his league-best rebounding average to 7.9 per game. Thomas Heurtel of Real Madrid and Lorenzo Brown of UNICS Kazan each had 9 assists, more than any players this week. Nick Calathes of FC Barcelona leads the EuroLeague with 5.7 assists per game. Two players had 4 steals in Round 12, Pierria Henry of Fenerbahce and Lamar Peters of Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. John Brown III of UNICS Kazan tops the steals chart in his first EuroLeague season with 2.7 per game. Papagiannis also led all shot blockers in Round 12 with 4 blocks. Real center Walter Tavares is the league leader with 1.7 blocks per game. Papagiannis and Howard were the only players to register double-doubles in this round.
Photo: EuroLeague