For just the second time in his 12 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague seasons, Kostas Sloukas is MVP of the Round – and it could not have come at a better time for the team he captains, Olympiacos Piraeus. Sloukas willed the Reds to an 84-72 win in Game 5 against Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, his former team, to capture a 3-2 series victory and the team's second Final Four qualification in a row. His performance index rating of 27, the highest among winning players across three Game 5s this week, was based on his team-high 22 points and game-high 6 assists, all of which seemed to come at moments when the Reds needed him most. Sloukas achieved a couple of milestones in the process, too, dishing his 1,500th assist late in the game and becoming just the sixth player in EuroLeague history to surpass 4,000 PIR for his career. What's more, Sloukas will now compete in his ninth Final Four, which ties him for the second-most among players this century.
Game 5 MVP: Kostas Sloukas, Olympiacos Piraeus
The highest PIR of Game 5 was 35 by Wade Baldwin of Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv despite his team's 97-86 loss at the hands of AS Monaco. Baldwin combined 27 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds while coming within a fraction of stealing the top scorer spot for the season. Next came Sergio Rodriguez of Real Madrid and Kevin Punter of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade, with PIRs of 26 each in the same Game 5. Rodriguez scored 11 of his season-high 19 points in the final quarter and dished 6 assists as Real rallied to defeat Partizan 98-94 and take the series in which it had trailed 0-2. Punter scored a game-high 28 points and dished 3 assists for Partizan.
Real's Dzanan Musa and Jordan Loyd of Monaco tied for Game 5's fifth-highest PIR with 24 each. Musa had 20 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists for Real, while Loyd posted 21 points with perfect 3-for-3 shooting from the arc for Monaco.