By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Making short work of the Netherlands, Finland claimed the 88-67 victory and wrapped up EuroBasket’s Group D at 3-2 Thursday.
Heading to a new NBA chapter with the Utah Jazz, Lauri Markkanen set the pace with ten points in the first quarter. As the lead grew over 20 points, head coach Lassi Tuovi split playing time between the 12 players and Markkanen lasted 18 minutes with 22 points behind 7/11 field goals to go along with three rebounds, one steal, and one assist. Returning to international action in style, he averaged 25.5 points per contest over his first four appearances in Prague’s group.
Veteran forward Shawn Huff chipped in 14 more points for the win in the last game of the preliminary round with Berlin coming up next for Finland. Despite the comfortable win, the Wolf Pack can end up second through fourth in the group depending on the remaining games to be held in O2 Arena. If Serbia beats Poland, Finland will get the second seed, but it will be the third seed if both Poland and the Czech Republic prevail and the fourth seed if Poland and Israel win later today.
Switching to the team coached by Italian tactician Maurizio Buscaglia and its tournament finale, Worthy de Jong recorded 21 points. Yannick Franke and Matt Haarms were both ruled out of the Gameday 5 fixture. The Netherlands finished the 2022 EuroBasket with a 0-5 record, packed with multiple comeback bids falling short earlier in the round-robin schedule.
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL