By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
James Nunnally was named Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 24 MVP, Euroleague Basketball announced Thursday.
At the top end of the double-game week, he recorded 32 points powered by 12/14 field goals, including six triples. His solid showing paved the way for Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv to secure the away win versus Zalgiris Kaunas Tuesday.
Per EuroLeagueBasketball.net: “James Nunnally returned to action this week after missing one game with an ankle injury and promptly turned in the finest performance of his Turkish Airlines EuroLeague career to lead Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv to its first road win since early November.
The veteran swingman set career-highs with 32 points scored and a performance index rating of 38 to earn MVP of the Round honors for Round 24 after Maccabi defeated Zalgiris Kaunas 78-94. Nunnally was in elite shooting form as he made 6 of 7 two-pointers and 6 of 7 three-pointers as well as both of his free throws. He added 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block in compiling the PIR, which was the highest of all players in the round. He became the second Maccabi player to win MVP of the Round in the last three games, joining Ante Zizic, who did so in Round 22. This marks the first time that Nunnally, a 2017 EuroLeague champion with Fenerbahce Istanbul, won MVP of the Round honor.
The next-highest PIRs for Round 24 came from the protagonists on both sides of Anadolu Efes Istanbul’s thrilling 97-99 overtime win at CSKA Moscow. Shane Larkin led the winners with 26 points and 9 assists for a PIR of 36. He made 4 of 7 two-pointers and 5 of 7 threes. CSKA guard Daniel Hackett posted a PIR of 32 after scoring a personal-best 31 points. He made 5 of 7 two-pointers and 6 of 10 shots from behind the arc. Rounding out the list of Round 24s top performers were Mike James of AS Monaco and Jordan Loyd of Zenit St Petersburg, each with PIRs of 29. James served up 29 points in his team’s 83-91 victory at Panathinaikos OPAP Athens. Loyd scored 23 on 11-for-12 free-throw shooting in an 82-90 triumph at Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz.”
The Top 10 Plays of Round 24 reserved the first spot for Jeremy Evans cleaning up above the rim in style for Panathinaikos OPAP.
Photo Credit: EuroLeagueBasketball.net