The excellent individual performance of Alexander Vezenkov in the turnaround for Olympiacos' victory against Maccabi Tel Aviv with 95:94 (22:24, 18:24, 25:22, 30:24) on Thursday night brought the Bulgarian national team an award for "Most Valuable Player" (MVP) in the fifth round of the regular season in the Euroleague, the organization reports, BTA reported.
Vezenkov finished the game with 23 points, after scoring 6/7 shots under the basket, 2/5 from the three-point zone and all five from the penalty line. The Bulgarian also helped with ten rebounds and two assists, and was fouled twice. Thus, he earned a +31 PIR rating, which was the highest in the fifth round of the regular season.
Vezenkov receives the MVP award in the Euroleague for the second time since the beginning of the year and is the first with more than one this season. The Bulgarian international has 16 awards and is tied for second place in this indicator with the legend Nando De Colo of ASVEL Villeurbanne. The two are only behind Shane Larkin of Anadolu Efes Istanbul, who has 19.
This year, Vezenkov is averaging 19.4 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. The Bulgarian has the highest average PIR with 25.6, leading Jordan Nuora of Red Star by 3.2 points, and is also the leader in rebounds and fourth in points. Thus, Vezenkov, the 2022/2023 EuroLeague MVP, is the early leader in the race for the tournament's best player in 2025/2026.
Only two basketball players came close to Vezenkov's performance in the fifth round. Panathinaikos' Chedi Osman finished with a PIR +30 after scoring a career-high 29 points in a 95:81 (22:21, 21:21, 26:10, 26:29) victory over Anadolu Efes Istanbul. Vezenkov's teammate Nikola Milutinov is also +30 from Thursday's success.
On Friday night, Bulgarian international Cody Miller-McIntyre earned +22 for his performance in Red Star Belgrade's 90:75 (20:25, 23:14, 24:14, 23:22) victory over Real Madrid. He recorded 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.