By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Walter Tavares scored 19 points along with six rebounds and four blocks on his way to 29 PIR as Real Madrid bounced back to grab a comeback win over ASVEL.
The big man’s presence was undeniable and he earned the MVP honors for the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Round 12.
Per EuroLeague Basketball:
By leading a late comeback in the final game on Friday, big man Walter Tavares of Real Madrid walked off with the latest MVP of the Week honor in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. Tavares loomed large as Real Madrid came back from 12 points down late in the third quarter to defeat visiting LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne 91-84, scoring 19 points with just 2 shots missed to go with 6 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. His 29 performance index rating was the best of the week. Following him with a PIR of 26 was Scottie Wilbekin, who led Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv with 23 points in a much-needed 81-76 home win against Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade. He made 4 of 7 three-pointers and 7 of 8 free throws on the way to that total, his 11th consecutive scoring in double figures. In the same game, Jordan Loyd of Zvezda outscored Wilbekin with 24 points but had one point less in PIR with 25. Loyd add 3 rebounds and 5 assists to his team’s cause. The fourth-best performance of the week belonged to Real’s Sergio Llull, who matched the 19 points of Tavares and dished 4 assists in his team’s home win over ASVEL. Coming fifth with PIRs of 24 was a trio of players. Danilo Barthel of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul wasn’t supposed to play due to a practice injury, but instead guided his team to a 65-73 road win at Zenit St Petersburg with 15 points on 6-for-6 two-point shooting, plus 5 rebounds and 4 assists. To celebrate the 200th game of his EuroLeague career, big man Othello Hunter contributed a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds to Maccabi‘s win over Zvezda. And Luke Sikma led ALBA Berlin to a 92-100 road win at Valencia Basket with his 14 points, 12 rebounds and 3 assists.
Individual highs: Luke Sikma, ALBA, 12 rebounds
Loyd of Zvezda topped all scorers this week with 24 points and now sits second, with 18.8 points per game, behind season leader Mike James of CSKA Moscow‘s 19.2-point average. Sikma’s 12 rebounds for ALBA were a career high for him and the most in the EuroLeague this week. Jalen Reynolds of FC Bayern Munich leads the rebounds rankings with 6.5 per game. Nick Calathes of FC Barcelona and Peyton Siva of ALBA led all passers with 10 assists each this week. Alexey Shved of Khimki Moscow Region is the overall leader with 8.0 per game. Several players tied with 4 steals for the highest total of the week, while Pierria Henry of TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz leads the rankings with 1.9 per game. Tavares of Real had 4 blocks, more than any other player this week. Khimki’s Jordan Mickey is the league leader with 2.4 per games. Sikma (14 points, 12 rebounds) and Hunter (13 points, 10 rebounds) were the only players to register double-doubles this week.