Finland and Poland have reached the quarterfinals of the European Basketball Championship. The Finn Lauri Markkanen set a record. Top favorite Serbia was surprisingly eliminated.
An outstanding Lauri Markkanen led Finland to the quarterfinals with a record show at the European Basketball Championship. The 94:86 (45:43) victory in the round of 16 over Croatia came NBA-Pro of Utah Jazz in Berlin to 43 points, never before has a Finn achieved such a result at a major tournament (Olympics, World Championships, European Championships). In addition, Markkanen recorded nine rebounds.
In the round of eight, the Finns meet world champions Spain, who eliminated Lithuania after a thriller (102:94 aet). The Croatians’ best thrower was Bojan Bogdanovic (23 points).
Serbia fails against Italy
Gold candidate Serbia failed after a flawless preliminary round in the round of 16. The team around NBA MVP Nikola Jokic lost 86:94 (51:45) to some furiously playing Italians in Berlin in the biggest surprise of the tournament so far, a very weak final quarter shattered the title dream. Italy head coach Gianmarco Pozzecco had to leave the interior after his second technical foul in the third quarter and went into the dressing room in tears, then his team turned up the heat – notably Marco Spissu (22 points) who had six three-pointers in the game. Italy is now playing against France. Serbia ran in vain after the deficit in the final phase, Jokic (Denver Nuggets) came to 32 points for the team of former national coach Svetislav Pesic. Nevertheless, the Vice European Champion lost.
Poland wins against Ukraine
Previously, Poland had bought the ticket for the quarter-finals. In a hard-fought game against neighboring Ukraine, national coach Igor Milicic’s team won 94:86 (42:45). Now defending champion Slovenia is waiting for superstar Luka Doncic.
The Ukrainian Vyacheslav Bobrov (r) defends under the basket against the Pole Michał Michalak.
After a slightly better start for the Polish team, Ukraine responded, coming on with several three-pointers and going into the dressing room with a narrow half-time lead. After the break it was tight.
At the world number 13. were Point Guard AJ Slaughter (24 points) and Small-Forward Mateusz Ponitka (22) the outstanding players. Overall, NBA pros Swjatoslav Mychajljuk (12) and Alex Len (9) did not play well enough in Ukraine.