By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Carlik Jones secured the EuroLeague Round 1 Most Valuable Player award after a spectacular performance for Partizan Mozzart Bet.
Additional details were shared by Euroleague Basketball on Saturday.
Per the press release: “Carlik Jones sparked the kind of opening night Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade fans had not experienced in nearly two decades, leading the club to an emphatic 92-76 home win over Armani Olimpia Milan. His all-around performance earned him MVP of the Round honors for Round 1 of the 2026-27 EuroLeague season.
Jones scored 20 points on 2-of-5 shooting inside the arc, 4-of-6 from three-point range and a perfect 4-of-4 from the free-throw line. He also handed out a club-record 10 assists, tying his career high, without committing a single turnover. Add 4 rebounds and 5 fouls drawn, and Jones finished with a PIR of 33, the best of any player in the opening round.
The win carried extra weight for Partizan. It ended a run of 10 consecutive opening-round losses and gave the club a winning start to its EuroLeague campaign for the first time in 19 years.
Dan Oturu of Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv posted the round’s next-best PIR of 32, though it came in an 84-86 home loss to FC Bayern Munich. The Hapoel big man had 20 points on 10-of-11 two-point shooting, plus 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks.
Dwayne Bacon followed with a PIR of 31, collecting 24 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists to lift Dubai Basketball past Real Madrid in a thrilling 78-77 finish.
Rounding out the top performers were a pair of Olympiacos Piraeus stars, Sasha Vezenkov and Tyler Dorsey, who helped the Reds open their title defense with an 89-106 road victory over Kosner Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. Vezenkov registered a PIR of 30 with 22 points and 5 rebounds, while Dorsey scored 25 points for a PIR of 29.
Individual highs: TJ Shorts, Valencia, 26 points
TJ Shorts of Valencia Basket led all scorers in Round 1 with 26 points.
Oturu and Zalgiris Kaunas forward Azuolas Tubelis shared the rebounding lead with 12 boards apiece.
Jones was the only player to reach double digits in assists in the opening round.
His Partizan teammate Luca Vildoza and Baskonia forward Rodions Kurucs tied for the steals lead with 4 each.
Four players blocked 3 shots in Round 1: Jonas Valanciunas of Zalgiris, Nicolo Melli of Fenerbahce Tarfin Istanbul, and the Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens duo of Mathias Lessort and Lefteris Mantoukas.
Also, four players opened their seasons with double-doubles: Jones (20 points, 10 assists), Oturu (20 points, 12 rebounds), Tubelis (10 points, 12 rebounds) and Fenerbahce‘s Braxton Key (11 points, 10 rebounds).”
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