By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
It was a night to remember for Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul after they knocked off AS Monaco 91-95 to steal a home-court advantage in their series. Nigel Hayes-Davis claiming MVP honors for Round 1 of the playoffs was the icing on the cake.
The star forward led Fenerbahce with 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 39 minutes played, totaling a PIR of 23. That was the highest among winning players in Game 1.
Hayes-Davis scored 12 of his points in the fourth quarter and overtime to secure his third MVP honor and second within a month. He was most recently MVP of Round 32.
Bringing that regular season form into the Playoffs 🥶 @NIGEL_HAYES is MVP of Game One, as he helped @FBBasketbol get a crucial Road W and take the lead in the series 🔒
‘MVP of the Playoffs’ I @PaniniAmerica pic.twitter.com/Nv1knbfk4I
— Turkish Airlines EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) April 25, 2024
The highest PIR of the round came from Mathias Lessort of Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens, who posted a 26 in his team’s 87-91 loss at the hands of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv. Lessort had 22 points and 6 rebounds for the Greens. His teammate Kostas Sloukas was next with a PIR of 23 after tallying 12 points, 13 assists, and 2 steals.
Rounding out the top performers of Game 1 was Dzanan Musa of Real Madrid. Musa scored 16 points, grabbed 3 rebounds, and dished 3 assists in just 17 minutes for a PIR of 20 in Los Blancos’ 90-74 rout of Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz.
Playoffs Game 1 Individual Highs
Mathias Lessort of Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens scored the most points in the opening games of the 2024 EuroLeague Playoffs with a 22-point effort against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv.
Juancho Hernangomez of Panathinaikos and Jaron Blossomgame of AS Monaco shared the top spot in the charts for rebounds in Game 1 of the playoffs with 9 boards apiece.
Another Panathinaikos player, Kostas Sloukas, stood out with the Game 1 high for assists with 13. That also marked his career-best.
Mike James of AS Monaco and Shaq McKissic of Olympiacos Piraeus each had three steals in this phase of the playoffs.
Fittingly, the all-time EuroLeague leader in blocked shots, Walter Tavares of Real Madrid, was the only player with multiple blocks in Game 1 of the playoffs. He finished his team’s victory over Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz with 2 rejections.
The lone double-double in Game 1 of the playoffs came from Kostas Sloukas, who had 12 points and 13 assists for Panathinaikos in their loss to Maccabi.
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