By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Turkish Airlines EuroLeague announced that Kostas Sloukas was named Regular Season Round 12 MVP. The Greek guard guided Fenerbahce Beko to the overtime win against ALBA Berlin with a career-best 39 PIR, highest among all players this week. He poured 23 points and delivered ten assists for the night.
Per EuroLeague: “Kostas Sloukas produced the best performance of his long and illustrious Turkish Airlines EuroLeague career in Round 12, playing the key role in his Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul’s 107-102 overtime victory over ALBA Berlin and taking the MVP of the Round award for the first time. The veteran point guard posted a career-high PIR of 39 after scoring 23 points – his third-most in 233 EuroLeague games – and dishing 10 assists, a personal season high and his second-best total ever. Sloukas also made 13 of 13 free throws, the third-most without a miss by any player this decade. The second-best performance of the week came from the previous round’s MVP, Shane Larkin, who had 24 points and 8 assists for a PIR of 37 in Anadolu Efes Istanbul’s big win at KIROLBET Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. Another star showing came from Tyrese Rice, who knocked down a club record 8 triples in a total of 41 points with a PIR of 33 as Panathinaikos OPAP Athens won the Greek derby after overtime against Olympiacos Piraeus. Nikola Mirotic again excelled for FC Barcelona in an away win at Khimki Moscow Region, combining 28 points and 9 rebounds for a PIR of 30. There was also a big road performance from Lorenzo Brown for Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade, who had a PIR of 29 after pairing 21 points and 7 assists in his team’s win at AX Armani Exchange Milan.
Individual highs: Facundo Campazzo, Real Madrid, 17 assists
A week after Larkin broke the modern era EuroLeague record by scoring 49 points, Rice followed it up by netting 41, tied for second most this century. Larkin remains the season’s leading scorer with 22.2 per game. Jock Landale of Zalgiris Kaunas was the top rebounder this week, grabbing 11 boards in his team’s last-gasp loss at CSKA Moscow. Nikola Milutinov of Olympiacos is the season leader with 9.8 rebounds per night. Facundo Campazzo set a new Real Madrid record with 17 assists in a home win over Valencia Basket. Nick Calathes of Panathinaikos tops the individual standings by averaging 8.8 assists. Chris Singleton of Efes claimed a round-high 4 steals, but Campazzo is the new overall leader with 1.7 thefts per game. CSKA veteran Kyle Hines tops this week’s blocked shots chart, rejecting three shots in the win over Zalgiris. Walter Tavares of Madrid is still the best shot-blocker in the competition with 2.0 per night. There were four double-doubles in Round 12: Sloukas (23 points, 10 assists); Landale (12 points, 11 rebounds); Calathes (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Milutinov (14 points, 10 rebounds).”