By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Packing a solid performance against his former team, Kostas Sloukas carried Olympiacos past Fenerbahce Beko and into the Final Four of the 2022-23 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague campaign.
Sloukas, 33, was named Playoffs Game 5 MVP, Euroleague Basketball announced Thursday.
In a win-or-go-home situation, the Greek combo guard registered 22 points behind 7/11 field goals, six assists, three rebounds, and one steal. Tallying a PIR of 27 earned him the distinction.
Per the press release: “For just the second time in his 12 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague seasons, Kostas Sloukas is MVP of the Round – and it could not have come at a better time for the team he captains, Olympiacos Piraeus. Sloukas willed the Reds to an 84-72 win in Game 5 against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, his former team, to capture a 3-2 series victory and the team’s second Final Four qualification in a row. His performance index rating of 27, the highest among winning players across three Game 5s this week, was based on his team-high 22 points and game-high 6 assists, all of which seemed to come at moments when the Reds needed him most. Sloukas achieved a couple of milestones in the process, too, dishing his 1,500th assist late in the game and becoming just the sixth player in EuroLeague history to surpass 4,000 PIR for his career. What’s more, Sloukas will now compete in his ninth Final Four, which ties him for the second-most among players this century.
The highest PIR of Game 5 was 35 by Wade Baldwin of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv despite his team’s 97-86 loss at the hands of AS Monaco. Baldwin combined 27 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds while coming within a fraction of stealing the top scorer spot for the season. Next came Sergio Rodriguez of Real Madrid and Kevin Punter of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, with PIRs of 26 each in the same Game 5. Rodriguez scored 11 of his season-high 19 points in the final quarter and dished 6 assists as Real rallied to defeat Partizan 98-94 and take the series in which it had trailed 0-2. Punter scored a game-high 28 points and dished 3 assists for Partizan.
Real’s Dzanan Musa and Jordan Loyd of Monaco tied for Game 5’s fifth-highest PIR with 24 each. Musa had 20 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists for Real, while Loyd posted 21 points with perfect 3-for-3 shooting from the arc for Monaco.
Game 5 individual highs: Kevin Punter, Partizan, 28 points
Kevin Punter of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade led all Game 5 scorers with 28 points. Sasha Vezenkov of Olympiacos Piraeus remains the top scorer of the season with 17.23 points per game, a shade above the 17.18 that Wade Baldwin of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv finished with.
Kostas Papanikolaou of Olympiacos led Round 5 rebounders with 11, the second-highest total of his 13-season EuroLeague career. Mathias Lessort of Partizan finished as the season’s top rebounder with 7.1 per game.
Baldwin’s 7 assists for Maccabi topped all Game 5 passers. Darius Thompson of Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz finished as the league-wide leader with 6.7 per game.
Four players tied with 2 steals each in Game 5: Real Madrid’s Walter Tavares and the Monaco trio Mike James, Elie Okobo and Alpha Diallo. Thomas Walkup of Olympiacos held onto first place for the season with 1.7 per game.
Alen Smailagic of Partizan was the only Game 5 player to reach 3 blocked shots. Tavares of Real finished with 2.2 per game and set a EuroLeague single-season record with 84 total blocks, more than double any other player in the 2022-23 campaign.
Papanikolaou, with 14 points and 11 rebounds, had the only Game 5 double-double. Lessort and Vezenkov tied for the season lead in double-doubles with 8 each.”
Photo Credit: EuroleagueBasketball.net