By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Daniel Hackett of Virtus Segafredo Bologna, a 35-year-old former Turkish Airlines EuroLeague champion, made sure to end his 12th season in the competition with a bang as he earned Round 34 MVP honors after leading his team to a derby victory.
Hackett was a man on a mission in Virtus’s 89-84 home win over Italian rival EA7 Emporio Armani Milan, as he enjoyed one of the best performances of his 275-game EuroLeague career.
He amassed a PIR of 36, the third-highest total of his career, by scoring 25 points and dishing 10 assists, which ties his personal best. He made 7-of-7 two pointers, 2-of-4 triples and 5-of-9 free throws. Hackett had never made more than 5 two-pointers without a miss before in his career.
Sasha Vezenkov followed with a PIR of 31, as he propelled Olympiacos Piraeus to a first-place finish with a double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds in an 86-78 over Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz.
The third-best performance of Round 34 belonged to Guerschon Yabusele of Real Madrid, despite his team’s 100-96 overtime road loss to Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv. Yabusele compiled a PIR of 29, based on his 25 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
In the same game, Lorenzo Brown of Maccabi had 22 points and 6 assists for a 27 PIR in a victory that was worth a fifth-place finish for his team.
Dante Exum of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade also amassed a PIR of 27 in his side’s 83-81 home win against Panathinaikos Athens. Exum had 18 points, 4 assists, 4 steals and 4 fouls drawn.