By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Lauri Markkanen and Finland bounced back, but ultimately Serbia which beat the Czech Republic and Israel which edged the Netherlands are the leaders of Group D with a 2-0 record.
And while the 33 points were not enough against Israel, Markkanen’s second straight solid showing in EuroBasket sent Finland to the clear win, 89-59, over Poland as the two teams are tied at 1-1.
The Finnisher dropped 15 points in the first half and was not really needed the rest of the way as the distance between the two sides grew into an even safer distance. Ending up with 17 points, five rebounds, four assists, and one steal in 23 minutes illustrated his effort as the team coached by Lassi Tuovi improved to 1-1 in Prague’s Group D.
Lenovo Tenerife’s sharpshooter Sasu Salin scored a game-high 18 points behind six three-pointers. “It was a heartbreaking loss yesterday, tough battle after overtime,” he mentioned referring to the loss to Israel, “You just have to make it into the next game. I think we made it very well.”
Markkanen, 25, is expected to be traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Utah Jazz. But before moving on in the NBA, he is determined to push Finland as far as possible in 2022 EuroBasket.
Opening up with six triples in the first quarter set the pace for the Wolf Pack in Gameday 2. Unable to deliver a response, Poland settled in at 1-1, early in the round-robin schedule of the six-team group.
On the contrary, the game between Israel and the Netherlands ended up being a big fight until the Israelis managed to get a close 74-67 win.
To be exact the Netherlands led by one (62-61) with three minutes left. Israel’s answer was a 9-2 run (70-64) with Deni Avdija and Yam Madar making two big threes.
However, Worthy De Jong with one more three trimmed the lead to three (70-67) with 14 seconds left, but the Netherlands couldn’t score after that. On the other side, Gal Mekel made 4/4 free throws to seal the deal.
Avdija with 21 points and Madar with 14 were the leaders of Israel once more, while De Jong scored 12.
Also, Serbia led by Nikola Jokic beat the Czech Republic. The team coached by Svetislav Pesic sits on top of the table with Israel, both sides at 2-0.
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL