A massive individual performance in a dramatic comeback win has earned Sasha Vezenkov of Olympiacos Piraeus the MVP honor for Round 5 of the 2025-26 EuroLeague Regular Season.
Vezenkov led Olympiacos to a stunning 94-95 road victory over Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv, helping his team erase a 12-point deficit in the final four minutes. The 30-year-old forward finished with 23 points, making 6-of-7 two-pointers, 2-of-5 three-pointers and all 5 of his free throws. He added 10 rebounds, 2 assists and drew 2 fouls for a performance index rating (PIR) of 31 – the highest in Round 5.
This marks Vezenkov’s second MVP of the Round award this season, making him the first player to achieve the feat in 2025-26. He also ties Nando De Colo of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne for the second-most MVP honors all-time with 16, trailing only Shane Larkin of Anadolu Efes Istanbul, who has 19.
Two other players came close to the top PIR of the round. Nikola Milutinov, also of Olympiacos, and Cedi Osman of Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens each recorded a PIR of 30. Milutinov tallied 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting inside the arc and 7-of-8 from the line, along with 5 rebounds and 8 fouls drawn. Osman led Panathinaikos to an 81-95 road win over Efes with a career-high 29 points on 3-of-4 two-pointers, 6-of-10 threes and 5-of-6 free throws, adding 5 rebounds and 5 fouls drawn.
Rounding out the top individual performances of Round 5 were Dan Oturu of Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv (PIR 29), and three players who each recorded a PIR of 28: Arnas Butkevicius of Zalgiris Kaunas, Carsen Edwards of Virtus Segafredo Bologna and Filip Petrusev of Dubai Basketball. Oturu contributed 18 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 2 blocks in Hapoel’s narrow 88-89 road win over Paris Basketball. Butkevicius tallied 20 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist and 3 steals in Zalgiris’s 78-89 loss to EA7 Emporio Armani Milan. Edwards exploded for a career-high 36 points, adding 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 steal in Virtus’s 83-90 victory at LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne. Petrusev delivered 23 points, 8 rebounds and 1 block to lead Dubai past FC Barcelona, 83-78.
Individual highs: Carsen Edwards, Virtus, 36 points
Carsen Edwards of Virtus led all scorers in Round 5 with 36 points. That ties the season-high mark originally set by Wade Baldwin of Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul. Edwards is now among the top scorers in the competition, while Nadir Hifi of Paris remains the EuroLeague’s overall leader with 23.2 points per game.
Mfiondu Kabengele of Dubai pulled down a round-high 13 rebounds in Round 5. Despite that, Vezenkov retains the top spot on the season leaderboard, averaging 10.0 boards per game.
Kostas Sloukas of Panathinaikos dished a Round 5-best 12 assists. Sylvain Francisco of Zalgiris remains the EuroLeague assists leader at 6.6 per game.
Nikola Mirotic of AS Monaco collected 4 steals, the most by any player in Round 5. Hifi remains first in steals across the season, averaging 2.6 per game.
Khalifa Diop of Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz led all players with 3 blocks in Round 5. Walter Tavares of Real Madrid continues to lead the league in blocks with 1.8 per night.
Six players registered double-doubles in Round 5: Kabengele (10 points, 13 rebounds), Vezenkov (23 points, 10 rebounds), Partizan’s Carlik Jones (18 points, 10 assists), Valencia’s Nate Reuvers (10 points, 10 rebounds), Paris’s Momo Faye (11 points, 10 rebounds), and Maccabi’s Jaylen Hoard (12 points, 10 rebounds).