By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Anadolu Efes guard Shane Larkin was named MVP of Round 33 of the regular season. The American guard led Efes to a 87 – 77 win over ALBA Berlin in Istanbul and his team mathematically secured a spot in the playoffs.
Per EuroLeague Basketball:
Shane Larkin turned on his engines and rallied reigning champion Anadolu Efes Istanbul from 15 points down to a playoff-clinching 87-77 win over visiting ALBA Berlin on Friday night, and in the process earned the MVP of the Round honor.
It is the third such award of the season for Larkin, and the 14th of his career, coming behind 28 points, which he reached by making 4-of-9 two-point shots and 6-of-11 threes. Larkin also had 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals, as well as 5 drawn fouls for a performance index rating of 35, the highest in Round 33.
The next best PIR, 30, belonged to a pair of centers, Ante Zizic of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv and Georgios Papagiannis of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens. Zizic paced Maccabi to a playoff-clinching 94-73 win over LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne with a career-high 24 points, on 8-for-10 two-pointers, along with 5 rebounds and 2 assists, while Papagiannis scored 18 points in an 87-86 upset win over Real Madrid. The big man was 9-of-11 on two-pointers, with 10 rebounds and 5 blocks. AS Monaco center Donta Hall had an index rating of 27, collecting 16 points on perfect 6-for-6 shooting, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks in a win over AX Armani Exchange Milan. Rounding out the list of top performers in Round 33 are Walter Tavares of Real and Shavon Shields of Milan, each with a PIR of 26. Shields had 22 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds, while Tavares posted 12 points plus 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals and 1 block.