Jean Montero drops 35 PIR as Olympiacos survives, and a buzzer-beater in Lyon in EuroLeague Round 5

Jean Montero came off the bench and took over the night. The Olympiacos guard scored 26 points on 7-of-9 shooting on 2-point attempts and 9-of-10 from the free-throw line, adding 5 rebounds and 2 assists in 30.8 minutes. His 35.00 performance index rating is the highest in EuroLeague this season, and it carried Olympiacos past Valencia Basket 102-97 in overtime at the Roig Arena.

Valencia pushes Olympiacos to overtime before Montero takes over

Olympiacos Piraeus 102 – 97 Valencia Basket (OT)

Valencia jumped out front behind a 31-17 first quarter and stayed in control into the half. Olympiacos clawed back with a 25-12 third quarter and a 31-19 fourth, forcing overtime, where the visitors outscored the home team 12-7 to close it out.

Montero's 35 PIR headlined the win, but he didn't do it alone. Evan Fournier added 23 points and 4 assists for a PIR of 16.00, and Sasha Vezenkov chipped in 14 points and 7 rebounds. Olympiacos made 27 of 29 free throws and grabbed 14 offensive rebounds, numbers that mattered as much as any single shot.

Valencia got 19 points off the bench from Nikola Mirotic and 16 points with 5 assists from T.J. Shorts, and the home team hit 12 of 35 3-points for 34.3%. It wasn't enough. Valencia falls to 4-1 with the loss, while Olympiacos moves to 4-1 as well.

Panathinaikos stays unbeaten by routing Partizan

Panathinaikos Athens 72 – 55 Partizan Belgrade

Partizan kept it tight into the half, down just 35-28, before Panathinaikos pulled away with a 20-8 third quarter in Belgrade. Partizan shot just 4 of 26 from 3-points, a brutal 15.4%, and never found an answer.

Panathinaikos leaned on its bench all night. Nigel Hayes-Davis scored 14 points, Mathias Lessort went for 4 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals, and Moustapha Fall added 6 points and 7 boards. Guerschon Yabusele chipped in 7 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists from the starting five.

Kevarrius Hayes led Partizan with 10 points, but Carlik Jones and Luca Vildoza both finished with a PIR of 0.00, and Joffrey Lauvergne was at -2.00. Panathinaikos is now 5-0, the only unbeaten team left in the competition, averaging 89.4 points a game. Partizan drops to 3-2.

Barcelona holds off Maccabi behind Kevin Punter

FC Barcelona 90 – 87 Maccabi Tel Aviv

Every quarter was within a few points at the Palau Blaugrana, and Barcelona never let the margin get away from it, closing out the fourth 23-23 to protect the lead. The home team made 19 of 22 free throws and crashed the offensive glass for 11 boards.

Kevin Punter led Barcelona with 19 points on 3-of-7 shooting from 3-points, good for a PIR of 21.00. Umoja Gibson added 13 off the bench, and Justin Robinson finished a plus-12 in just 16.8 minutes, a mark Aleksander Balcerowski also reached.

Yam Madar was the best player on the floor regardless of result. The Maccabi guard dropped 22 points and 4 assists for a PIR of 31.00, the second-best mark of Round 5 behind only Montero. Iffe Lundberg added 13 points and Bonzie Colson had 12 with 4 steals, but Maccabi falls to 1-4. Barcelona improves to 3-2.

Crvena Zvezda edges ASVEL in Lyon

Crvena Zvezda Belgrade 84 – 82 ASVEL

ASVEL trailed after the first quarter before leading at the half and after the third, but Crvena Zvezda chipped away behind elite ball movement, piling up 26 assists on 30 made baskets against just 17 helpers for the home team. That sharing carried Belgrade to the road win in Lyon.

Both Gach scored 19 points for ASVEL on 4-of-5 shooting on 2-point attempts, and Tremont Waters added 15. The home team connected on 12 of 30 3-points for 40%, but it still wasn't enough to hold on.

Crvena Zvezda got balanced scoring across the board: Semi Ojeleye had 15 points and 6 rebounds, Chima Moneke scored 18, Jordan Nwora added 17 off the bench, and Chris Jones ran the show with 9 assists and the game winner at the buzzer. The result pushes Crvena Zvezda to 3-2.

Montero's 35 PIR stands above every individual line turned in across Round 5, Madar's 31 included, and it came off the bench in a road overtime win — the kind of performance that shows up in a box score and in a standings table at the same time.

Elsewhere in Round 5

Fenerbahce Istanbul handled Zalgiris Kaunas 99-80 at home. Carsen Edwards scored 20 points for Zalgiris, including 4 of 8 from 3-points, in a losing effort.

Real Madrid won on the road at Armani Olimpia Milano, 98-89. Andres Feliz finished with 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for a PIR of 24.00, and Theo Maledon added 16 points and 4 assists for a 23.00 PIR. Milano's Leandro Bolmaro scored 21 points with 5 assists.

Dubai Basketball beat Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz 93-79. Mfiondu Kabengele posted 16 points and 10 rebounds for a PIR of 23.00, and Filip Petrusev added 17 points for a 20.00 PIR.

Panathinaikos remains the only unbeaten team at 5-0 after Round 5, ahead of Fenerbahce, Olympiacos and Valencia, all at 4-1. Crvena Zvezda, Dubai, Barcelona and Partizan sit at 3-2, while Milano, Baskonia and Maccabi round out the bottom of the standings at 1-4.