Kristaps Porzingis struggles in EuroLeague Performance Against Turkey

Recapping Kristaps Porzingis and Latvia's performance against Turkey today.

Apr 8, 2025; New York, New York, USA; Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis (8) warms up before a game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | John Jones-Imagn Images

After a summer of friendly games, Europe has officially begun its EuroBasket Tournament, where the top 25 teams in Europe will play against each other to see which team is the best in Europe for the summer. The Atlanta Hawks, however, have three active players in the tournament: Kristaps Porzingis (Latvia), Zaccharie Risacher (France), and Vit Krejci (Czech Republic), who just played today.

KP & Latvia tip off their opening game right now vs. Turkey 🏀@kporzee x @EuroBasket pic.twitter.com/RBxXdkzSoq

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) August 27, 2025

Leading up to the tournament, Porzingis had been playing reasonably well and had many fans, media, and players discussing his impressive performance. When watching Porzingis this summer, he has noticeably improved, particularly in his ability to be more mobile on both offense and defense, as well as in playmaking from both the post and perimeter. As for today's game, there were some down moments that he had when defending, specifically, when guarding Alperen Sengun. Porzingis was moved out of the way, leading to an open layup from Sengun, and in another moment, Porzingis was dunked on while under the basket.

Food… Şengün cooks Porzingis again 😂😂😂 https://t.co/DwF07OP2NK pic.twitter.com/oK7hYWavUA

— Bradeaux (@BradeauxNBA) August 27, 2025

HAZER POSTERIZED PORZINGIS 👀#Eurobasket pic.twitter.com/XEVkVyx0Pk

— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) August 27, 2025

For the positives, Porzingis was active on the glass, as he grabbed four rebounds and scored a couple of times in the paint and at the free-throw line. Besides this, there weren't many positives to note, as Porzingis struggled, shooting 25% from the field, 0/5 0% from three-point range, and committing six turnovers. Latvia, as a team, struggled offensively from three-point range, shooting 34.2%, and defensively, struggled with rebounding, losing 40 to 23, which led to Turkey shooting 60% from the field and 60% from three-point range.

Porzingis dunks pic.twitter.com/nnxswoqblr

— Kevin Chouinard (@KLChouinard) August 27, 2025

In terms of Latvia, the team plays again on Friday, August 29, against Estonia, in which Latvia comes in as a heavy favorite. As far as what Latvia should look to work on from this loss, however, is their ability to turn over the basketball, as they had 13 turnovers that led to 17 points off turnovers and points in the paint, while allowing 32 points from Turkey inside. I would like to see more defense from Porzingis as well, since he is regarded as a solid rim protector and could be more active than he was today on the defensive end.

Offensively, Porzingis should focus on playing more inside the paint when his shot isn't falling, as he made 3/7 shot attempts and went 0/5 from three-point range. If Porzingis can play more inside instead of relying on the three-point shot, he could draw more fouls and get easier buckets inside, as he is one of Latvia's reliable scorers.

Porziņģis averaged 19.5 points, shooting a career-best .412% from three-point territory, 6.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 blocks in 28.8 minutes during the 2024-25 season (.483 FG%, .809 FT%). His .412% from deep ranked 25th in the NBA last season amongst all players and was the second-highest clip amongst all 7-footers, trailing only Karl-Anthony Towns.