Players on all eight playoff teams have dominated in certain statistical categories and hope to continue doing so in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs.
The playoff players' strengths, by the numbers
Sizzling shooters
The playoffs will have an abundance of game-changing marksmen from long range. Of course, it all starts with Markus Howard, the league-leading scorer (19.5 ppg.) who shattered the EuroLeague single-season record by sinking 137 three-point shots this season, a league-leading 3.8 per game on 40.2% accuracy.
Of the 14 players averaging 2.0 triples made this season, Baskonia is the sole playoff team with two. Vanja Marinkovic (2.1) and Howard have downed more three-pointers than twos this season, as have three other playoff participants. Fenerbahce's Scottie Wilbekin (3.0) became just the third EuroLeague player ever to make triple digit three-pointers (102), after Howard's 137 and Alexey Shved's 107 in the 2017-18 season. Isaiah Canaan (2.5) of Olympiacos and Nico Laprovittola (2.5) of Barcelona have made 84 and 69 triples, respectively.
Though neither plays shooting guard and both score more two-pointers, Monaco's Mike James (2.3) enters the playoffs with 79 made threes while Mario Hezonja (2.2) is Real Madrid's leader with 72, ranking seventh and ninth, respectively, in total shots made from the arc. Hezonja enters the playoffs hotter than any other long-distance sniper, having shot 17-for-26, or 65.4%, over the last four regular-season rounds.
Meanwhile, Panathinaikos guard Kendrick Nunn, after some three-point woes earlier in the season, has made multiple three-point shots in eight straight games, making 23 triples on 51.1% over that span.
If a playoff game comes down to the final shot, expect the aforementioned specialists to have the ball in their hands.
Inside scorers
Nunn's improved three-point shooting comes in addition to his ability to finish closer to the basket. Whether driving to the hoop or rising for mid-range jumpers, Nunn takes a larger share of his team's two-pointers (23.7%) than any other Euroleague player. To make things even more interesting, his Panathinaikos teammate, center Mathias Lessort (21.6%), ranks second on that list.
It is quite unique to have teammates rank first and second in this two-point share, especially one being a guard and the other a center. Of all two-point shots taken by Panathinaikos this season, nearly half have come from Lessort and Nunn.
Lessort converted 24.7% of his team's attempts inside the arc, the league's highest share this season. Just six players reached 20.0% in that category, including fellow playoff participants Fenerbahce center Johnathan Motley (23.2%), ranked second, and Barcelona center Jan Vesely (22.7%), fourth. Expect these three teams to keep depending on their big man inside for high-percentage two-pointers.
Playmaking trios
There are 13 players who have averaged more than 4.5 assists per game this season, and three of them wear a Maccabi uniform. Lorenzo Brown is the team leader, and third in the league, in that department with 6.1 per game. He is followed by Wade Baldwin, who ranks 11th averaging 4.9 assists, and Tamir Blatt who has been dishing 4.7 per contest, ranking 13th. Their combined average of 15.7 assists was better than what two entire teams – Zalgiris Kaunas and Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade – have averaged.
Another playoff team not lacking playmaking options is Barcelona, which has three players posting 4.0 assists or better. Laprovittola ranks ninth with 5.0 per game, leading the team while Tomas Satoransky posts 4.1 per game. Meanwhile, Ricky Rubio averages 4.0 assists, albeit in only eight appearances. The only other playoff team with multiple players averaging more than 4.0 assist is Real Madrid, which has Facundo Campazzo (6.5) and the three-time EuroLeague champ Sergio Rodriguez (4.1).
The Reds' silent threats
Olympiacos enters the playoffs with the league best defense, allowing a league-low 75.0 points to its opponents, but is the only playoff team scoring fewer than 80 points (79.0) per game. Nonetheless, the Reds have a very offensively efficient front line.
For instance, Moustapha Fall ranks second in true shooting percentage (74.6%), and Alec Peters is seventh (70.1%). Nikola Milutinov, who has come back from a foot injury after having missed 13 games, is 20th with 67.9%, but ranks first in offensive rebounding percentage (17.8%), the same category in which Luke Sikma (15.0%) is fourth.
None of those players rank in the top 10 in rebounds, but three of them Milutinov (5.6 rpg.), Peters (4.8) and Fall (4.6.) make the Reds only one of two teams with a trio of players accumulating that many rebounds. The other is Real Madrid, which leads the league with 36.8 boards per game, with Walter Tavares (6.3), Vincent Poirier (5.4) and Guerschon Yabusele (5.0) leading the way. It is unusual that 15th-ranked Olympiacos (32.3 rpg.) would have three such rebounders, however.
Monaco's major ball hawks
Monaco enters the playoffs tied with Panathinaikos for the most forced turnovers, 13.53 per game, and ranks fourth among playoff teams in steals (7.0). James leads Roca Team with 41 steals, which speaks volumes of how valuable he is to Monaco on both ends of the floor. James ranks eighth among all EuroLeague players in steals, while two other Monaco players – Alpha Diallo and John Brown – each have 39 steals. Their combined 119 total steals are the most by any three teammates this season and amount to just over 50.0% of team's total of 236.
Interestingly, Monaco's playoff opponent Fenerbahce has several ball hawks, too. Fenerbahce claimed just 196 this season, 5.8 per game, second-fewest in the regular season in front only Baskonia (5.5). But Fenerbahce is alone with four players collecting 27 or more steals. Wilbekin (36), Nick Calathes (31), Nigel Hayes-Davis (30) and Marko Guduric (27) combined for 124 steals, 63.2% of the team's total.