Knicks Forward Helps France Defeat Luka Doncic, Slovenia

Despite an international incident of sorts, France's men's national basketball team remained perfect in EuroBasket play under the captaincy of new New York Knicks forward Guerschon Yabusele.

Les Bleus continue to stand atop Group D after part two of pool play in Katowice, taking down a Slovenian group led by Luka Doncic by a 103-95 final on Saturday.

Yabusele tied for the team lead with seven rebounds and scored six points while Sylvain Francisco scored 32 points for the French on 9-of-15 from the field. All that and more was enough to counter 39 points from the Los Angeles Lakers star Doncic, who also dished out nine assists while pulling in eight rebounds.

The end of the game was partly marred by controversy: as time wound off the clock with France carrying a healthy lead, Doncic and Francisco shared a handshake at the key before the latter opted for an uncontested lay-up that led to extracirriculars and an ejection on each side.

Yabusele stood up for his teammate in postgame comments on X. As he implied, the first tiebreaker behind head-to-head matchups in EuroBasket group play is points scored, a battle that France is winning in Group D by a large margin.

Aug 8, 2024; Paris, France; France power forward Guerschon Yabusele (7) celebrates during the second half against Germany in a men's basketball semifinal game during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rob Schumacher-Imagn Images | Rob Schumacher-Imagn Images

"Every basket counts. Luka [made the] mistake of wanting to shake hands when it should be up to the attack to do it," Yabusele said in French (translation via Grok on X). "Normally, it’s the attack that decides to stop, not the other way around. We see negative comments every day, especially from the French. Not everyone, of course, we still have a lot of people behind us, and it’s with them that we’ll make it happen."

Yabusele was held to but five tries from the floor on Saturday but came up clutch late: with Slovenia conjuring up a late tie at the four-minute mark, his lone triple of the day was the middle addition of an 8-0 run that placed lasting momentum on Les Bleus' side and sealed the deal. France outscored Slovenia by 14 in the second half after trailing at intermission to keep their sterling mark alive after the first couple.

With Saturday's win, France and host Poland are the only undefeated squads left in Group D. Les Bleus immediately return to action on Sunday, facing off against Israel (11 a.m. ET, DAZN/Courtside 1891).

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