FIBA Basketball
Luka Doncic, Slovenia Pull Away Late to Defeat Belgium at EuroBasket 2022
Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic continued his participation with Slovenia in EuroBasket 2022 on Saturday. After finishing with a 4-1 record in Group B play, they advanced to the EuroBasket Round of 16.
Slovenia managed to pull off an 88-72 win over Belgium with Doncic setting the tone in a major way. He finished with 35 points (11-25 FG, 4-10 3P, 9-10 FT), five rebounds, five assists, and four steals.
At one point, Belgium took a one-point lead early in the final period and hung around through three quarters. Slovenia used a 15-0 run in the fourth period to fully take control of the game. The team held an 80-65 lead with 4:11 remaining in regulation, which proved to be too much for Belgium to overcome.
"They played a physical game. They played great basketball, made shots. They played physical, yes," Doncic said.
"Honestly, I think it wasn't an easy game. They played physical, they played beautiful game on offense. In the end, we won, but it wasn't an easy game," Doncic explained.
Doncic has found a major rhythm in EuroBasket play. He's scored at least 30 points in three consecutive performances, making him the only player in 30 years to achieve such a feat. He is coming off a 47-point performance against Rudy Gobert and France, which was the second-highest ever EuroBasket performance.
An aggressive scoring display was needed from Doncic when considering Slovenia's perimeter jump shots were not dropping at a consistent clip. They shot 7-28 from 3-point range but specifically 3-18 when excluding Doncic's shooting execution.
Slovenia will play the winner of Ukraine and Poland in the quarterfinals.
You can follow Grant Afseth on Twitter at @GrantAfseth.
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