Round 26 roll call: Long-awaited feats

Larkin ends six-year wait for double-double

Shane Larkin had his fingerprints all over Anadolu Efes Istanbul's 82-87 road win against Panathinaikos Athens. With fellow star guard Vasilije Micic out injured, Larkin played a season-high 36 minutes and 18 seconds and led Efes to its 13th victory by pairing 13 points with 10 assists. Larkin's previous season high was 7 assists in Round 20 against FC Bayern Munich. It was also his first double-double since the 2016-17 season, when he was playing for Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz. Curiously, Larkin's last double-double came exactly six years earlier, on March 2, 2017, when he had 13 points and 11 assists to inspire Baskonia to an 87-74 home win against EA7 Emporio Armani Milan. This is his first double-double with Efes and the fourth in his EuroLeague career.

Avramovic makes it rain

Aleksa Avramovic of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade is known for being an accomplished three-point shooter, but when it came to his shooting in this year's Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season, his shots were not falling in. In 11 EuroLeague games in 2022-23, Avramovic had gone just 4-of-17 from three-point range (23.5% 3FG), and he hadn’t seen more than one drop in a game. That changed in Round 6, however, as Avramovic buried 5-of-7 shots from downtown (71.4% 3FG) against ALBA Berlin. Avramovic was instant offense off the bench, finishing the game with 19 points in less than 19 minutes. He buried 3 consecutive three-pointers to give Partizan a 31-30 lead late in the first half, before adding 2 more after the break to help the Serbian team take a convincing lead, 70-50.

Lucic's sweet return

FC Bayern Munich star forward Vladimir Lucic had not played since Round 10 due to injury, yet he played a stellar role in his team's comeback win against Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade in Round 26. It was a special game for Lucic, who grew up with Zvezda's archrivals Partizan and was coming up against some of his teammates from the Serbian national team. Lucic finished the game with 20 points on really good shooting, hitting 4-of-4 two-pointers and 4-of-6 three-pointers. Zvezda led 58-66 with under eight minutes to go, but Lucic stepped up when Bayern desperately needed a go-to guy, hitting a mid-range jumper and a couple of three-pointers to bring the hosts back into the game, 66-68, and eventually win it.

Hall's outstanding fourth quarter

AS Monaco did not seem to be in the best position to win its Round 26 home game against Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv, trailing 58-59 at the end of the third quarter. Donta Hall had enjoyed a sub-par performance until then with 6 points and 4 rebounds, but he made things happen in the fourth quarter. Hall had three outstanding dunks, a huge block off the glass and as many as 6 rebounds in the last 10 minutes. Hall finished the game with his first double-double of the season, 12 points and 10 rebounds, while he didn’t miss a single shot and amassed a season-high PIR of 25. That was his third career double-double with Monaco; his last one came against Olympiacos Piraeus in Game 4 of the 2022 EuroLeague Playoffs.

Motley helped Fenerbahce inside

Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul hit a season-high and a club-record 20 three-pointers in its 104-72 blowout win over Virtus Segafredo Bologna, becoming the second team this season to have nine different players knock down at least 1 triple. One of the players who did not hit a three-pointer was big man Johnathan Motely, but the Fenerbahce center is the one who got the team going in the first place. Motley scored 6 early points and the Virtus defense had a hard time trying to contain him. That left a little extra room on the perimeter, and once his teammates started knocking down long-range shots, there was no stopping Fenerbahce. Motley played 19 minutes and finished with 16 points on 7-for-9 two-point shooting, while he also pulled down 7 rebounds and dished 2 assists in a 32-point drubbing.

Tonut does a bit of everything for Milan

After leading his team in minutes one week ago, Stefano Tonut spent under 18 minutes on the floor during EA7 Emporio Armani Milan's 83-62 win against Olympiacos Piraeus on Friday night. He found his way to the basket, scoring 7 points on 3-for-6 shooting from the field, in addition to pulling down a team-high 6 rebounds, dishing 3 assists and recording 2 steals, all of which are tied for his personal best. In particular, the contribution of Milan's guards on the glass was one of the keys to the game. Milan outrebounded the Reds 29-24, allowing just 3 offensive rebounds, the fewest it had this season. Tonut helped lead Milan to a resounding victory over Olympiacos, the team's fourth win in succession.