By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
A pair of centers – one who has done it all in the Turkish Airlines Euroleague and a newcomer looking to match that success – led their teams to pivotal victories to share the MVP honor for Game 2 of the playoffs.
Two-time champion Kyle Hines was the difference-maker as CSKA Moscow outlasted visiting Crvena Zvezda Telekom Belgrade 77-76 on Thursday to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-five series. His 19 points were just 2 fewer than the career-high 21 that Hines scored in Game 1, while his 8-for-9 two-point shooting and 3-for-3 free throws provided the accuracy that CSKA needed to win by a single point.
Ekpe Udoh, playing in the Euroleague playoffs for the first time, dominated at both ends of the floor as host Fenerbahce Istanbul handed defending champion Real Madrid its worst playoff loss this century, 100-78. Udoh poured in 18 points with near-perfect shooting, too, hitting 7 of 9 two-pointers and dropping 4 of 5 foul shots. His 2 blocks set the tone for Fenerbahce’s defense and put Udoh 2 short of a new Euroleague season record in that statistical category. Hines and Udoh are co-MVPs based on having the highest performance index rating, 25, for a winning team in Game 2 of the playoffs.
The top performer overall, with an index rating of 26, was legend Dimitris Diamantidis, whose one-legged three-pointer sent Panathinaikos Athens to overtime, where the Greens subsequently lost 82-78 to host Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz. Diamantidis had 17 points, 6 assists and 4 rebounds, but Laboral nonetheless leads that series 2-0. Next among the best performances in Game 2 were FC Barcelona Lassa teammates Tomas Satoransky and Ante Tomic, who both posted double-doubles to lead their team to the second-biggest road win in playoffs history, 66-92 over Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar. Satoransky dished a career-high 10 assists and scored 13 points for a 23 index rating, one higher than Tomic, who put together 12 points and 10 rebounds as Barcelona tied the series 1-1. Tying Tomic with a 22 index rating was Lokomotiv guard Malcolm Delaney, who had 19 points and 3 assists in a losing effort.