EuroLeague Playoffs Game 2 MVP: Bogdan Bogdanovic, Fenerbahce Istanbul

Bogdan Bogdanovic is proving once again that he is a big-time player for big-time games. The Fenerbahce Istanbul guard matched his MVP performance from Game 1 of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Playoffs to lead his team to a second victory and become MVP of Game 2, as well! In doing so, Bogdanovic became the first player in competition history to win MVP honors in the first two games of a playoff series. His performance index rating of 35, the highest rating of any player in Game 2 of the playoffs, exactly matched his production from Game 1. This time, Fenerbahce defeated Panathinaikos Superfoods Athens 75-80 to become the first team ever to win the first two games of a playoff series away from home. Bogdanovic posted 25 points – which set a team record for points in the playoffs – on 5-for-7 two-point and 5-for-8 three-point shooting. He also pulled 8 rebounds and dished 6 assists. Bogdanovic edged teammate Ekpe Udoh, who was MVP twice in last season’s playoffs, for the Game 2 honor. Udoh tallied 22 points on 11-of-14 shooting, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks for an index rating of 34. Gustavo Ayon of Real Madrid was next with an index rating of 30 in an 80-84 loss at the hands of Darussafaka Dogus Istanbul. Ayon did not miss on 6 shots in amassing 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Anadolu Efes Istanbul big man Bryant Dunston also posted big numbers in his team’s 71-73 road win at Olympiacos Piraeus. Dunston finished with 16 points, 5 assists and 2 blocks for an index rating of 27.

Individual leaders: Jayson Granger of Anadolu Efes Istanbul, 9 assists

Bogdanovic was the top scorer in Game 2 with 25 points and his average of 24 points per game leads all players in the playoffs. Udoh, Efes forward Tyler Honeycutt and Kim Tillie of Baskonia Vitoria Gasteiz all had 9 rebounds in Game 2. Honeycutt is the playoffs leader with 9.5 rebounds per game. Efes point guard Jayson Granger delivered 9 assists to lead the Game 2 rankings. Milos Teodosic of CSKA Moscow and Vassilis Spanoulis of Olympiacos, who ranked first and second in assists, respectively, during the regular season, share the top spot on the playoffs leaderboard with 6.5 per game. Seven players tied for the Game 2 high of 2 steals apiece. James Augustine of CSKA leads the playoffs with 3 steals per game. And Udoh tops the playoff charts with 3 blocks per game. He tied Dunston and Olympiacos big man Khem Birch with 2 blocks in Game 2.