Two talented guards on new teams, Scottie Wilbekin of Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv and Rodrigue Beaubois of Anadolu Efes Istanbul, sparked key road wins to earn themselves a share of the MVP honor for Round 3. Wilbekin excelled in Maccabi's 68-78 win at Buducnost VOLI Podgorica on Thursday, scoring a career-high 28 points on 4-of-5 two-point shooting and 6-of-11 from long range. He also dished 4 assists and collected 5 rebounds for a PIR of 30, another personal best. Beaubois poured in 26 points and had 4 assists, including the last one for a game-winning buzzer-beater, as Efes topped host Khimki Moscow Region by 84-85 on Friday. His 10-for-12 free throw shooting helped him to the same 30 PIR, his best in 76 career games. The third-best performance of Round 3 was shared by two players with PIRs of 26: Nemanja Nedovic, who combined 20 points with 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals in AX Armani Exchange Olimpia Milan's big road win at Olympiacos Piraeus; and Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul big man Michael Eric, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds in defeat at CSKA Moscow. Two experienced players, Kostas Sloukas of Fenerbahce Istanbul and Ante Tomic of FC Barcelona Lassa, mustered PIRs of 25 in hard-fought victories for their teams. Sloukas buried 20 points and dished 5 assists as Fenerbahce rallied to win away against Zalgiris Kaunas. And Tomic piled up 18 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists to pace Barcelona's first victory, at home against FC Bayern Munich.
Individual leaders: Nick Calathes, Panathinaikos, 9 assists
Wilbekin's 28 points also made him the leading scorer in Round 3. Khimki star Alexey Shved tops everyone with 28.3 per game through three rounds. Darussafaka's Eric and Real Madrid giant Walter Tavares led the round's rebounders with 11, while Olympiacos's Nikola Milutinov remains the season leader with 10 per game. Once again, Nick Calathes of Panathinaikos OPAP Athens was the top assist-maker this round, dishing 9 dimes in his team's victory over Herbalife Gran Canaria. He also tops the season's assists chart with an average of 10.3. Calathes was one of five players with 3 steals in Round 3, along with Arturas Gudaitis of Milan, Bayern's Maodo Lo, Chris Singleton from Barcelona and Madrid's Facundo Campazzo. Khimki's Dee Bost leads the league in steals with 3.5 per game. "Sergeant Swat" Tavares blocked 4 shots in Round 3, more than anyone else, and he also leads the league with 3 per game. Tavares, Milutinov and Eric all claimed double-doubles in Round 3.