Euroleague Round 26 MVP: Kendrick Nunn

Nunn sat on 6 points at halftime, having scored the final basket of the first half to make it 49-47 against Anadolu Efes Istanbul, then erupted for 30 points after the interval as he finished on 36 – his second-highest tally in 60 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague appearances – in a 104-89 victory. This is just the second time that Nunn has scored 30 points or more in a EuroLeague game, with the other being his 39-point outing in Round 16 earlier this season. He reached 36 points after going 7 for 10 on two-pointers, 5 for 11 on three-pointers and a perfect 7 for 7 from the free-throw line. Nunn also posted 4 rebounds, including 2 on the offensive end, 2 assists, 2 steals and 4 fouls drawn. This is Nunn’s MVP of the Round accolade, as he was the Game 5 MVP during last year’s EuroLeague Playoffs.

Finishing just behind Nunn was EA7 Emporio Armani Milan’s Zach LeDay, who had an equally dominant display in his team’s 87-89 win at Zalgiris Kaunas. LeDay had a 36 PIR having amassed 26 points on 5-of-9 two-pointers, 1-of-2 three-pointers and a perfect 13-of-13 free throws, 5 rebounds, 1 steal and 11 fouls drawn. The third-highest PIR in Round 26 belonged to Paris Basketball’s TJ Shorts, who had a 33 index rating in his team’s 77-83 victory at Virtus Segafredo Bologna. Shorts finished with 16 points on 6-of-7 two-pointers and 4-of-4 free throws, 4 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 9 fouls drawn. FC Barcelona’s Kevin Punter had a 31 PIR, the fourth best in this round, in his team’s 88-90 loss to Olympiacos Piraeus. He posted 20 points on 4-of-7 two-pointers, 1-of-3 three-pointers and 9-of-9 free throws, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal and 7 fouls drawn. Rounding out the list of top performers is Olympiacos’s Sasha Vezenkov with a 30 PIR, having amassed 24 points on 6-of-8 two-pointers, 3-of-6 three-pointers and 3-of-3 free throws, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 4 fouls drawn and zero turnovers.