Defending champion Slovenia around NBA star Luka Doncic suffered his first defeat at the European Basketball Championship before the duel with the German team.
The European champions lost to Bosnia-Herzegovina 93:97 (52:49) in Cologne, increasing Germany’s chances of winning the group.
If the team of national coach Gordon Herbert wins on Tuesday evening, as they did last time in the World Cup qualifier, against the Slovenians and on Wednesday also against outsiders Hungary (both 8:30 p.m. / MagentaSport), they are sure of first place anyway. The selection of the German Basketball Federation (DBB) is the only team in Group B to have won all three previous preliminary round games.
Spain surprisingly suffered their first defeat of the tournament in Group A. The three-time European champion lost against Belgium in Tbilisi/Georgia 73:83 (33:32) and missed the chance to make it through to the round of 16. Emmanuel Lecomte was the best thrower for the Belgians with 20 points.
Turkey fared no better than Spain. After two wins, after a thriller with two overtimes, it came 83:88 (75:75, 68:68, 33:36) against hosts Georgia.