With the best performance by an Olympiacos Piraeus player this century, forward Sasha Vezenkov ran away with the MVP honor for Round 8 after shining in the Reds’ 71-82 victory at FC Bayern Munich on Thursday night. Vezenkov recorded a career-high performance index rating of 43 – the highest in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague since February of 2021 – after finishing with 20 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 block. He missed just 3 shots all night, didn’t commit a turnover, and drew 8 fouls. Vezenkov has now won or shared three MVP distinctions in the opening eight rounds this season.
Ranking second in Round 8 was Vasilije Micic of Anadolu Efes Istanbul, whose 22 points, 5 assists and 4 steals led to a PIR of 36 in a 96-86 home win against FC Barcelona. Next up was Dante Exum, who paced Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade in a 96-88 win over Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv with a PIR of 31, collecting 21 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Rounding out the list of top performers are three players with PIRs of 28 each. In the same game as Micic, Efes forward Will Clyburn had 24 points and 6 rebounds while Barca guard Nicolas Laprovittola scored a career-high 28 points, including 5 three-pointers made. Real Madrid center Vincent Poirier matched them while compiling 19 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks in a 90-72 home win over ALBA Berlin.
Individual highs: Walkup, Olympiacos, 6 steals
Barcelona’s Nicolas Laprovittola led all Round 8 scorers with 28 points, his career-high in 117 EuroLeague games. Vezenkov is this season’s scoring leader with 20.0 points per game. Vezenkov’s 13 rebounds topped all players this week. He remains the league leader with 8.9 per game. Sergio Rodriguez of Real dished 10 assists, his season-high, to top all other passers in Round 8. Luke Sikma of ALBA has been the best provider of assists so far this season, with an average of 7.0. Thomas Walkup of Olympiacos recorded 6 steals against Bayern, the most this week, and now leads the overall standings with 2.4 per game. Devin Booker of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul had 4 blocks, more than any other player this week. Walter Tavares of Real leads the league with an average of 2.4 blocks per game. Three players posted double-doubles in Round 8: Vezenkov with 20 points and 13 rebounds; Rodriguez with 13 points and 10 assists; and Rolands Smits of Zalgiris Kaunas with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
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