His first-ever MVP of the Round award came on a career night for the Spanish forward
Playoffs Game 1 MVP: Juancho Hernangomez, Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens
Awards
3 Mins read
A starring performance in a series-opening victory has seen Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens forward Juancho Hernangomez secure Game 1 MVP honors with a career-high PIR of 40, the joint third highest PIR recorded by a player in modern playoff history.
In Panathinaikos’s 87-83 comeback win over Anadolu Efes Istanbul, Hernangomez had a career-high 20 points on 7-of-7 two-pointers and 2-of-5 threes, as well as a career-best 16 rebounds – the joint most in modern playoff history – 3 assists, a joint career-high 3 steals, a joint career-best 2 blocks, and 3 fouls drawn. This is the first time that Hernangomez has earned MVP of the Round honors, while his number of rebounds (16) and PIR (40) were both new club records in a playoff game.
The next-best index rating belonged to Sasha Vezenkov, who posted a 31 PIR in Olympiacos Piraeus’s 84-72 triumph over Real Madrid. Vezenkov amassed 23 points on 5-of-7 twos, 3-of-4 threes and 4-of-6 free throws, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 fouls drawn.
Efes’s Vincent Poirier finished with a 29 PIR – tying his season high – in his side’s loss at Panathinaikos, having recorded 17 points on 7-of-8 twos and 3-of-4 free throws, 8 rebounds, including 4 on the offensive end, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 5 blocks, which is a modern playoff record.
Elie Okobo of AS Monaco had a 26 PIR as his squad downed FC Barcelona 97-80. The guard posted 19 points on 5-of-7 twos, 2-of-3 threes and 3-of-4 free throws, 2 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 4 fouls drawn.
Rounding out the list of top performers is Barcelona’s Youssoupha Fall, who had a joint season-high 13 points on perfect shooting, going 5 of 5 on twos and 3 of 3 on free throws, a season-best 14 total rebounds and a joint season-high 5 on the offensive end, 1 steal and 2 fouls drawn.
Individual highs: Juancho Hernangomez, Panathinaikos, 16 rebounds
Olympiacos’s Sasha Vezenkov led all players in Game 1 with 23 points. Panathinaikos’s Kendrick Nunn is the EuroLeague’s leading scorer this season with 20.9 points per game.
Juancho Hernangomez of Panathinaikos tied a modern playoff record with 16 rebounds, more than anyone else in Game 1. He is the new rebounding leader this season with 7.0 rebounds per night.
Monaco’s Elie Okobo and Paris Basketball’s TJ Shorts both dished 7 assists, the most of any player. Shorts is the season leader in assists with 7.5 dimes per contest.
Real Madrid’s Andres Feliz made a career-high 4 steals, more than anyone else in Game 1. FC Bayern Munich’s Nick Weiler-Babb, whose team has been eliminated from the postseason, averaged a league-best 1.5 steals per game.
Vincent Poirier of Efes blocked 5 shots in Game 1, which is a modern playoff record. Monaco’s Georgios Papagiannis is atop the charts in blocks with 1.4 rejections per night.
Juancho Hernangomez (20 points, 16 rebounds) and Youssoupha Fall (13 points, 14 rebounds) were the only players to record a double-double in Game 1.