By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Lauri Markkanen made history in the EuroBasket 2022 Round of 16 in Berlin, with Finland beating Croatia 94-86 after a tough and back-and-forth encounter.
However, Markkanen has been unstoppable and closed the game with this outstanding performance: 43 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 19/29 from the field. He set a new national team record at a major event, eclipsing his previous best of 34 points against the Czech Republic earlier in the tournament.
It’s the third time in this Eurobasket that a player scores 40 or more points, after Giannis Antetokounmpo (41 p.) and Luka Doncic (47 p.). No other players from Finland had scored 40 or more points in any FIBA tournament.
“Honestly, I’m very proud of the players and the staff. Whatever happened in the game, I need to say that the players enjoyed on the court: that’s the main thing for the coach. They don’t want to go home, they want to keep having fun”, coach Lassi Tuovi added.
The new Utah Jazz player turned the game into his personal show, but he got some help also from both Sasu Salin (17 p., 5 r., and 5/10 3pts) and Edon Maxhuni (16 p.).
Croatia managed to stay into the game until the end of the third quarter (67-65), but couldn’t close the fourth quarter the same way, failing to contain Lauri Markkanen. The best among Damir Mulaomerovic’s team have been Bojan Bogdanovic (23 p., 5 r., and 7/14 FG), Jaleen Smith (17 p. and 3/6 3pts), and Dario Saric (12 p., 9 r., and 6 a.).
“It’s tough whenever somebody has 43 points, it’s a really tough matchup. They capitalized on our mistakes”, Jaleen Smith said.
“It was difficult to stop Markkanen and Salin. We tried with a lot of defenders, but he was really on fire. In the end, we received a couple of easy three-pointers. There have been strange decisions on crucial moments by the referees that I didn’t understand as well”, coach Damir Mulaomerovic added.
This result ends a 55-year wait for the Susijengi as they will compete in the last eight at EuroBasket for the first time since 1967 as they set a showdown with Spain, scheduled for Tuesday at 17:15.
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL