Luka Doncic's Slovenia Falls 90-89 To France, Losing Chance For Gold
DALLAS - The winner of Slovenia vs. France would position themselves for a matchup with the United States for the Gold medal in the 2021 Tokyo Games.
Facing a 90-89 deficit with 2.4 seconds left to play, Luka Doncic made a pass to a teammate who aggressively attempted to get downhill for a finish at the rim. However, Nicolas Batum tracked the drive with ideal positioning and managed to come up with a game-saving block.
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It was a historic effort from Doncic despite Slovenia coming up short on the scoreboard. Finishing with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 18 assists, Doncic recorded what was the third triple-double performance in Olympic men's basketball history.
Doncic joins LeBron James (2012) and Alexander Belov (1976) as the only players in Olympic mens basketball history to record a triple-double.
Had Slovenia been able to make the game-winning drive to the rim, it would have capped off an incredible comeback effort from Doncic’s club.
Slovenia faced a 90-85 deficit with only 56.1 seconds remaining on the game clock. After converting on a three-pointer to cut it to 90-88, a variety of shortcomings in execution proved to be costly.
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Before Batum's pivotal block at the rim on what proved to be a game-saving play, Slovenia split a pair of free throws in what would have tied the game 90-90.
While the ultimate goal is to come away with a medal, Slovenia achieving a Bronze medal would be an unprecedented feat of its own. The country's birth in this year's Olympics is the first ever for their men's basketball program.
Luka Doncic will have one last chance to lead Slovenia to a medal when taking on Australia for the Bronze.
