Two big men who propelled their teams to home victories to start the double-round week, Maik Kotsar of Cazoo Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz and Georgios Papagiannis of Panathinaikos Athens, are the co-MVPs for Round 31, the second such accolade for each in their careers. Their joint PIR of 40 was a career high for each. Kotsar led Baskonia in points (23), rebounds (10) and blocks (2) in 30 minutes of a pivotal 93-87 home win over ALBA Berlin. Papagiannis paced Panathinaikos Athens to an 86-76 success over visiting FC Bayern Munich. The big man led the Greens in points (24), rebounds (11) and blocks (3) in 28 minutes on court during which he did not miss a single shot: 7 of 7 two-pointers, 3 of 3 threes and 1 of 1 free throws. He had the highest PIR in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague for a player who shot perfectly in the same game.
Round 31 co-MVP's: Maik Kotsar and Georgios Papagiannis
Awards
2 Mins read
The third-best Round 31 performance came from Kotsar's teammate, point guard Darius Thompson, who set or matched career highs of 38 PIR, 21 points and 4 steals while also dishing 11 assists in Baskonia’s victory. FC Barcelona guard Nicolas Laprovittola followed with a career-high PIR of 32 in his team's 80-89 road win at Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade thanks to his 25 points, including 11-for-13 free-throw shooting, and 7 assists. His teammate, forward Nikola Mirotic, came in fifth for Round 21 with a PIR of 27 based on his 19 points and 8 rebounds in Barca's victory.