Euroleague: Nico Laprovittola named MVP of Round 26

A big win against his former team in El Clásico allowed Nico Laprovittola of FC Barcelona to earn the Round 26 MVP honor, the first of his four-season Turkish Airlines EuroLeague career.

Laprovittola led Barcelona to a 68-86 victory against Real Madrid with a performance index rating of 27, the highest among winning players in this round. He finished the game with 20 points on near-perfect shooting: 2 of 3 two-pointers, 5 of 5 three-pointers and 1 of 1 free throws. Laprovittola added 7 rebounds – the highest total for either team – 2 assists and 4 fouls drawn for the third-best PIR of his career.

From the same game, Walter Tavares of Real had a PIR of 35, the highest in Round 26, but in a losing effort. Tavares scored 25 points on 10-for-10 two-point and 5-for-6 free-throw shooting, adding 6 rebounds, an assist, a steal and 5 fouls drawn. Wade Baldwin of Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz also amassed a PIR of 27 in his team’s road loss against AX Armani Exchange Milan. Baldwin had 16 points, 3 rebounds, 6 assist, a steal and 7 fouls drawn. Scottie Wilbekin of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv and Vasilije Micic of Anadolu Efes Istanbul, each with a PIR of 25, completed the top individual performances in Round 26.