By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Solid Turkish Airlines EuroLeague outings are becoming an exciting trend for Vladimir Lucic. His 22 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two steals propelled FC Bayern Munich to the win over Valencia Friday and at a personal level banked 35 PIR earning him the MVP of the Week award for the second time in the 2020-21 season. His impressive start accounts for 15.9 points per match influencing a 6-2 run so far for the German outlet.
Per the press release: “After six previous Turkish Airlines EuroLeague seasons without one, Vladimir Lucic has claimed the MVP of the Week award for the second time in a month, and in so doing helped FC Bayern Munich take sole possession of second place in the standings. Lucic was the game’s leading scorer with 22 points and best rebounder with 7 boards as Bayern downed visiting Valencia Basket by 90-79 on Friday. He missed just 3 of 16 shots while adding 2 assists, 2 steals and 8 fouls drawn for a career-high performance index rating of 35 in his 107th career EuroLeague game. This week’s second-best performances belonged to Darrun Hilliard of CSKA Moscow and Corey Walden of Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade, who posted identical PIRs of 32. Hilliard dominated CSKA‘s thrilling 89-96 home win over TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz with a personal-best 31 points. His seventh three-pointer of the night broke an 84-84 tie with 23 seconds left, matching CSKA’s single-game record, while his point total was the highest without free throws by any EuroLeague player in six years. Walden was everywhere in Zvezda’s 68-89 road win against ASVEL in a Round 4 replay on Wednesday, going for 20 points, 5 assists and 4 steals in less than 23 minutes – all without a single turnover. In the same game, his teammate Jordan Loyd drilled 29 points and picked up 5 steals for a 31 PIR. Rounding out the top five performances of the week, Vasilije Micic buried a career-high 33 points on his way to a 29 PIR in pacing Anadolu Efes Istanbul to a 77-80 road win over Panathinaikos OPAP Athens.
Individual highs: Vasilije Micic, Efes, 33 points
Those 33 points by Micic were not only his best to date in 131 career EuroLeague games, but also the highest total so far this season by any EuroLeague player. Jordan Loyd of Zvezda continues leading the top-scorer rankings with 21.6 points per game. Chris Singleton of Efes pulled a week-high 8 rebounds, while Devin Booker of Khimki Moscow Region holds the highest average with 8.4 boards. FC Barcelona teammates Nick Calathes and Thomas Heurtel had the week’s highest assist number, with 8 apiece. Calathes is ranked first, too, with 7.0 assists on average. Loyd’s 5 steals in Zvezda’s game on Wednesday were the high for this week. Pierria Henry of TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz is the league leader in steals with 2.0 per game. Several players registered this week’s maximum of 2 blocked shots while one who was idle due to injury, Bryant Dunston of Efes, continues to lead that category with 1.8 per game. No double-doubles were recorded in EuroLeague competition this week.”