By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Fenerbahce Istanbul center Ekpe Udoh put on another towering performance to help send his team back to the Final Four and earn himself the MVP award for Game 3 of the playoffs.
The Turkish Airlines Euroleague rookie, who was the Game 2 co-MVP, too, picked up where he left off as Fenerbahce‘s series with Real Madrid moved to the Spanish capital. With Udoh doing the heavy lifting, Fenerbahce roared into the Final Four by completing a series sweep of last year’s champs with a 63-75 road win. Udoh posted several personal bests as he compiled 15 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks for a performance index rating of 33, the highest so far in this season’s playoffs.
Following Udoh on the hit parade was another player headed to the Final Four for the first time, Laboral Kutxa Vitoria Gasteiz guard Darius Adams, whose 24 points paced a 75-84 road win over Panathinaikos Athens for another series sweep. Adams scored 14 of his points in the fourth quarter, including all 3 of his three-pointers, and finished with a PIR of 27. Tied at 24 each were Alex Abrines, whose career-high 25 points paced FC Barcelona Lassa’s 82-70 home win over Lokomotiv Kuban Krasnodar to move within a victory of the Final Four, and Gustavo Ayon of Madrid, whose 14 points and 14 rebounds couldn’t save last year’s champs from elimination. Mike James of Laboral had Game 3’s fifth-best PIR, 23, with 20 points and 6 rebounds.