Mathias Lessort has been a force for Partizan NIS Belgrade ever since he joined the club in late December.
Midseason signing Lessort has been a force for Partizan
His dominance should not surprise those who have followed his career closely; this is the big man's third campaign in the competition and he has been chosen to the All-EuroCup Teams in each of the first two. What is so special about Lessort's game is that he does not excel in any one area, but he wears opponents down by contributing on both ends, whether scoring, rebounding, blocking shots or doing the little things that don't show up in the box score.
That explains how Lessort has the second-highest performance index rating by average among centers in EuroCup history. His average PIR of 18.1 in 47 EuroCup games is 14th all-time and only four of the players above him have played more games. What's more, Lessort's pro-rated PIR over 40 minutes stands at 30.7 for his career, which is second among all players in competition history.
His numbers have only risen this season under Coach Zeljko Obradovic's tutelage at Partizan where he has averaged 16.2 points on 65.9% two-point shooting, 7.4 rebounds - including 3.2 offensive rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals for an average PIR of 25. Lessort is playing 25 minutes a game in the EuroCup for Partizan, a drastic increase from the 12 minutes he averaged in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague at the start of the season with Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, where he posted 7.4 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.
Lessort achieved another milestone recently with Partizan when he earned MVP of the Round honors for Round 13 after leading his team to a victory over MoraBanc Andorra. It marked the first such honor during the regular season, though Lessort was the MVP of the Quarterfinals last season with AS Monaco.
Against Andorra, the 26-year-old center collected 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting and 4-of-4 on free throws while grabbing 12 rebounds - 5 from the offensive glass. Lessort also dished out 3 assists with 0 turnovers in more than 25 minutes of action, drawing 5 fouls for a performance index rating of 32.
This is Lessort's second time playing for a club in the Serbian capital; he debuted in the EuroLeague with Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade during the 2017-18 season and he seems to have found a special connection with fans in the city.
“These are the types of games you play for - this type of atmosphere, this type of win,” Lessort said after the win over Andorra.
He was the catalyst as Partizan pulled away in the second quarter of that game. Lessort threw down a massive dunk and followed that the next time down with a lefty lay-in. As Andorra tried to stay close, Lessort collected the ball after a blocked shot on offense and laid it back in. He later grabbed a big offensive rebound and scored the putback. After forcing a turnover on defense, Lessort then assisted on the team’s first three-pointer by Aleksa Avramovic. All that came in a span of just 3:37 minutes in helping Partizan establish a 12-point margin and control of the game.
Lessort also helped get the boisterous crowd at Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in a frenzy with some spectacular scenes. The physical specimen threw down two huge dunks in the final quarter to keep the fans behind them and urging them on.
By the time the final buzzer sounded, it was clear to all watching why Lessort has some of the most-impressive all-around numbers in EuroCup history and that with him in the middle, Partizan must be considered a title contender more than ever before.