Regular Season Round 17 MVP: Luka Doncic, Real Madrid

Jan 14, 2017 by Euroleague.net Print
Regular Season Round 17 MVP: Luka Doncic, Real Madrid

The amazing breakout season for teenage sensation Luka Doncic of Real Madrid continued Friday as he came within 2 assists of a triple-double in leading Los Blancos to a tough 80-75 home victory over Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv. Doncic amassed 10 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists in compiling a performance index rating of 32 to earn MVP honors for Round 17 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season. Doncic, whose index rating was the highest of all players on winning teams, claims the weekly MVP title for the second time this season. He had a hand in Madrid's success from start to finish, including a rebound and assist on the game's final basket to seal the victory. The highest index rating for Round 17 came from Milan Macvan, who excelled for EA7 Emporio Armani Milan despite its 101-64 loss at CSKA Moscow. Macvan posted 19 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists for his first EuroLeague double-double in more than three years and a career-best index rating of 33. Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul guard Dairis Bertans turned in a career-best performance on Thursday night to lead his team to a convincing 98-89 victory over Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz. Bertans erupted for 29 points, 5 assists and a performance index rating of 31. He nearly doubled his previous best scoring total (15) by making 7 of 9 two-point shots and 3 of 4 from downtown. Rounding out the list of Round 17's top performers were the current and former Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy winners, reigning MVP Nando De Colo of CSKA Moscow and Unics Kazan star Keith Langford. De Colo scored 22 points with good shooting numbers, including 7 of 7 on free throws, plus 3 assists en route to an index rating of 30. Langford led his team to a 63-58 victory over Brose Bamberg in which he had a hand in more than half his team's points. Langford scored 27 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished 5 assists for an index rating of 29. This marked the fourth time in the last five rounds that Langford was among the top five performers.

Individual leaders: Dairis Bertans of Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul, 29 points

Bertans's career-high 29 points were the most in Round 17, while right behind him with 27 was former Alphonso Ford Top Scorer Trophy winner Langford, who raised his average to a league-best 24.0 points per game. Anadolu Efes Istanbul forward Tyler Honeycutt led all players with 12 rebounds in Round 17. His 8.1 rebounds per game this season are second only to Bamberg forward Nicolo Melli and his 8.4 per game. Shane Larkin of Baskonia is now second in the league with 6.5 assists per game after dishing 9 on Thursday, which was the high mark for the round. CSKA playmaker Milos Teodosic remains atop the standings with 7.6 assists per game. Six players – Aaron Jackson, Victor Khryapa and James Augustine of CSKA Moscow, Felipe Reyes of Madrid, Kostas Papanikolaou of Olympiacos Piraeus and Chris Singleton of Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens – share the top spot for Round 17 with 3 steals apiece. Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade guard Charles Jenkins is averaging more steals than any player in the EuroLeague this season, 2.1 per game. And after Fenerbahce Istanbul center Ekpe Udoh blocked 3 shots on Thursday, he not only led all players for the round, but raised his league-best average to 2.1 per game. Doncic, Langford, Macvan and Honeycutt (11 points, 12 rebounds) had the only double-doubles of the round.