The EuroLeague rookie has secured his fourth MVP of the Round award of the season
Round 32 MVP: TJ Shorts, Paris Basketball
Awards
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A fantastic all-round performance in a key road game in the playoff race, against the defending champion no less, has earned TJ Shorts of Paris Basketball another MVP of the Round honor.
In a 98-101 win over Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens, Shorts flirted with a triple-double, finishing with 20 points and personal bests of 14 assists and 9 rebounds. He made 6-of-12 two-point shots, 1-of-4 triples and 5-of-6 free throws, while also collecting 1 steal and drawing 9 fouls. This is the fourth MVP of the Round award – and second in a span of seven days – for the first-year guard.
The next-best PIR, 32, belonged to Nikola Mirotic of EA7 Emporio Armani Milan. In an 88-98 loss against FC Barcelona, Mirotic scored 28 points and collected 9 rebounds. Panathinaikos guard Kendrick Nunn had a 31 PIR after collecting 22 points, 9 assists and 8 rebounds in a loss against Paris. Rounding out the list of Round 32's best performers are Tornike Shengelia of Virtus Segafredo Bologna and Elijah Bryant of Anadolu Efes Istanbul, each with a PIR of 28. Shengelia had 15 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 rebounds and a block in a 64-108 win over ALBA Berlin, while Bryant had 25 points, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 rebounds in a 90-88 win over Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv.
Individual highs: TJ Shorts, Paris, 14 assists
Mirotic led all scorers with 28 points in Round 32. Kendrick Nunn remains the league's scoring leader, improving his average to 20.3 points.
Walter Tavares of Real Madrid had 10 rebounds, the most of any player in this round. Joel Bolomboy of Crvena Zvezda Meridianbet Belgrade, who is currently out injured, is the rebounding leader with 8.3 boards per game.
Shorts had 14 assists, more than any player in Round 32. Shorts increased his overall lead in this category, averaging 7.4 assists per night.
Andre Roberson of LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne registered 5 steals in this round. Nick Weiler-Babb of FC Bayern Munich leads the EuroLeague with 1.6 steals per game.
Alen Smailagic of Zalgiris Kaunas had a round-high 4 blocks. Tavares is the league's top shot blocker with 1.4 per game.
There were five double-doubles in Round 32: Carlik Jones of Partizan Mozzart Bet Belgrade (19 points, 10 assists), Trent Forrest of Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz (12 points, 12 assists), Shorts (20 points, 14 assists), Mike James of AS Monaco (11 points, 12 assists), and Tavares (14 points, 10 rebounds).