VALENCIA — Jean Montero marked his return to Roig Arena in stunning fashion, leading Olympiacos Piraeus to a 102-97 overtime victory at Valencia Basket after overturning a 28-point deficit to match the biggest comeback in EuroLeague history and earning MVP of the Round honours for Round 5 with a PIR of 35.
The guard delivered 26 points on 7-of-9 shooting inside the arc, 1-of-3 from three-point range and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line, adding 5 rebounds, 2 assists and drawing 11 fouls to post the highest PIR of the round. The result at Roig Arena headlined a slate that also saw FC Barcelona edge Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv 90-87, FC Bayern Munich win 101-93 at Anadolu Efes Istanbul, Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv beat Besiktas Istanbul 100-82 and Virtus Bologna edge Paris Basketball 96-94.
Yam Madar of Maccabi Rapyd Tel Aviv recorded the next-best PIR of 31 in that 90-87 road loss to FC Barcelona, finishing with 22 points on 5-of-6 two-pointers, 3-of-5 three-pointers and 3-of-4 free throws, plus 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 8 fouls drawn. Dario Saric of Anadolu Efes Istanbul and Ante Zizic of Besiktas Istanbul both posted a PIR of 28, while Tyson Etienne of Paris Basketball registered a PIR of 27.
Saric tallied 21 points on 6-of-9 two-point shooting and a perfect 9-of-9 from the line, with 6 rebounds, one assist, 2 steals and 7 fouls drawn as Efes fell 93-101 at home to FC Bayern Munich. Zizic contributed 17 points on 6-of-9 two-pointers and 5-of-6 free throws, alongside 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 fouls drawn in Besiktas' 100-82 defeat at Hapoel IBI Tel Aviv, a result that followed Hapoel's third-quarter blitz in Sofia. Etienne closed the top five with 23 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists, one steal and 7 fouls drawn in Paris Basketball's 94-96 home loss to Virtus Bologna.