For the first time all season, the bwin MVP award will be shared by two players. Real Madrid center Ioannis Bourousis and EA7 Emporio Armani Milan guard Curtis Jerrells each played pivotal roles in leading their teams to victory. The two also tied for the highest performance index ratings in Game 2 of the playoffs, which allows them to share Playoffs Game 2 bwin MVP honors. Against his former team, Bourousis collected 19 points plus 10 rebounds to lead Los Blancos to an 82-77 victory over two-time defending champion Olympiacos Piraeus. He shot 7 of 10 inside the arc, 1 of 3 behind the three-point stripe and 2 for 3 from the free throw line in addition to 1 assist and 3 drawn fouls. Jerrells came off the bench to score 12 of his 17 points in the second half as Milan evened its series against Maccabi Electra with a 91-77 victory. Jerrells shot 3 of 4 from two-point range, 3 for 5 from downtown and sinking both of his free throws. He also dished 6 assists, grabbed 2 rebounds and had a steal. Bourousis and Jerrells become the first players to share MVP honors in the playoffs since 2010. Sharing the second best index rating of Game 2 with 21 were three players. FC Barcelona’s Brad Oleson scored 14 points off the bench, without missing a shot, adding 3 rebounds, and an assists, a steal, and a block in an 84-63 win over Galatasaray Liv Hospital. CSKA Moscow’s Sonny Weems netted 23 points, with 4 rebounds and 2 assists, in 77-51 rout of Panathinaikos Athens. Matt Lojeski of Olympiacos collected 13 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 5 fouls drawn and a steal.
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Inividual leaders: Victor Khryapa of CSKA Moscow, 11 rebounds
Weems led all Game 2 scorers with 23 points. Keith Langford is the Euroleague’s leading scorer with 17.3 points per game; Weems is the top scorer in the playoffs with 22 points per game. Victor Khryapa of CSKA grabbed 11 rebounds to lead all players. Khryapa pulled down the same number of rebounds for Game 1, too. Daniel Hackett dished 9 assists to lead all players in Game 2 of the playoffs. Dimitris Diamantidis of Panathinaikos is the season long assist leader with 6.3 assists per game; Hacket’s 7.5 apg. is tops in the playoffs. Madrid’s Rudy Fernandez had 3 steals, the best of any player in Game 2. His teammate Nikola Mirotic and Jonas Maciulis of Panathinaikos are the playoffs leaders with 3.5 steals per game. Gani Lawal of EA7 Milan had 3 blocks, repeating his performances from Game 1, and again taking the weekly title of the top blocker. Bryant Dunston of Olympiacos leads the competition at 1.4 blocks per game. Bourousis recorded the first – and so far only – double-double of the playoffs.