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Head-to-head: Lessort, Partizan vs. Motley, Fenerbahce

Head-to-head: Lessort, Partizan vs. Motley, Fenerbahce

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23 February 20233 Mins read

Head-to-head: Lessort, Partizan vs. Motley, Fenerbahce

Two of the most productive centers in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague this season will go head-to-head for the first time in the competition when Mathias Lessort of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade and Johnathan Motley of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul face off on Thursday night in the Serbian capital.

Lessort, 27, is playing for a fourth different team in as many seasons in the EuroLeague and posting career-best numbers across the board. That includes averaging a PIR of 20.1, which ranks him second this season, and playing 31:00 minutes per game, ranking him sixth.

Motley, who is five months older than his Partizan counterpart, is in his first EuroLeague campaign and has been equally dominant. He has earned a pair of MVP of the Round honors and sports the second-best per-40 minutes PIR (28.8).

Lessort enters Round 25 having pulled down the most rebounds this season, 173. On average, he's been worth 7.2 boards per game, which ranks third. Lessort is also the league leader with 3.2 offensive rebounds per game. Motely is just behind, averaging a second-best 3.0 offensive boards, and ranking sixth with 6.0 rebounds per game.

Offensive rebounding is not the only category where these two sit one behind the other atop the EuroLeague rankings.

No two players this season have more two-point shots made than Lessort, who leads the league with 114, and Motely who has 110, but in four fewer appearances, which makes him the league leader with 5.5 two-pointers made per contest.

Lessort has done it with a significantly higher accuracy, but has not made more than 8 shots in any of the games. On the other hand, Motley is the only EuroLeague player this season who managed two games with double-digit two-point shots made, including 11-for-14 shooting in a Round 16 road loss against Virtus Segafredo Bologna, tied for the most two-point shots made in a single game since March 2021.

Lessort's consistency is best showcased by his posting double-digit PIRs in a league-high 23 of his 24 appearances this season. In addition, the Partizan big man has accumulated six double-doubles so far, which is the second-most in the competition.

Motley not only averages 22:54 minutes per game, nearly 8 fewer than Lessort, but he also missed four games due to an injury. That included the Round 15 home clash between these two clubs in which Partizan pulled out a come-from-behind 72-73 win. Lessort had 12 points and 4 rebounds that night.

Now, the two big men have an opportunity to face each other with high playoff stakes on the line at a packed Stark Arena.