RIGA: Luka Doncic scored 39 points but Slovenia (0-2) lost again at EuroBasket after France’s deep bench proved too much for the Los Angeles Lakers star’s team on Saturday.
France’s 103-95 win came two days after Doncic had scored 34 points in Slovenia’s 105-95 defeat to co-host Poland. His outing against France put Doncic over 1,000 career points for Slovenia.
Point guard Sylvain Francisco came off the bench to lead France with 32 points in the game played in Katowice, Poland. France improved to 2-0 in Group D.
Doncic made 19 of 20 free throws, grabbed eight rebounds and had nine assists, but it wasn’t enough as Francisco helped fuel 78 points by France’s bench players, compared to just 26 from Slovenia’s.
Washington Wizards pair Bilal Coulibaly and Alex Sarr combined for 25 points to help pace France, with 12 points from Zaccharie Risacher of the Atlanta Hawks.
American-born guard Jordan Loyd led Poland with 27 points and came through in the clutch to edge Israel 66-64 to improve to 2-0.
Lloyd led Poland with 27 points, including 5-of-8 3-pointers. He scored 10 of Poland’s final 13 points, including a putback of his own shot with 13 seconds left to give his team the win.
Deni Avdija of the Portland Trailblazers had 23 points for Israel (1-1).
Also in Group D, Belgium overcame a seven-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat Iceland 71-64 and improve to 1-1. Iceland is 0-2.
Jokic puts Serbia into knockout phase from Group A
Nikola Jokic scored 39 points, including the final two points of the game from the free-throw line, to help Serbia edge Latvia 84-80.
The Denver Nuggets star had 10 rebounds and four assists. His record points total bettered his previous best for Serbia of 32 points.
A 3-0 record in Group A ensured Serbia a spot in the knockout phase with two games remaining. Co-host Latvia fell to 1-2.
Serbia captain and Los Angeles Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic missed the game with a hamstring injury.
Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun scored all 20 of his points in the first half as Turkiye trounced Portugal 95-54 to also move on with a 3-0 record from Group A.
The group phase of 24 teams is being played in four different countries. The top four teams from each group will advance to the knockout phase in Riga, Latvia, from Sept. 6-14.
Estonia (1-2) beat Czechia (0-3) 89-75 also in Group A.
Germany, Finland advance from Group B
Sacramento Kings point guard Dennis Schroder scored 26 points as Germany beat Lithuania 107-88 and booked their spot in the knockout phase.
Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner added 24 points and seven rebounds, and Daniel Theis chipped in with 23 points as world champions Germany improved to 3-0 in Group B.
Germany won the game from long range, hitting 19 3-pointers on 54 percent shooting, with Schroder going 5-of-10 from distance. Schroder also handed out six assists in another strong performance despite him being targeted by racial abuse from two fans, who were ejected from the stadium in Tampere, Finland.
Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen put in 26 points in a 85-65 win over Montenegro (0-3) and help Finland (3-0) reach the playoffs. That came a day after Markkanen had run riot with 43 points in a rout of Britain.
Miami Heat’s Pelle Larsson scored 23 as Sweden (1-2) beat Britain (0-3) 78-59 in Group B.
Giannis rests as Greece win in Group C
Giannis Antetokounmpo sat out Greece’s 96-69 win over Cyprus, two days after the Milwaukee Bucks forward had scored 31 points in a win over Italy.
American-born Tyler Dorsey and Konstantinos Mitoglou led Greece (2-0) with 18 points each. Co-host Cyprus fell to 0-2.
Spain (1-1) rebounded from an opening loss with a 88-67 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina (1-1). Memphis Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama lead the defending champions with 19 points.
Also in Group C, Heat forward Simone Fontecchio scored 14 to help Italy (1-1) beat Georgia (1-1) 78-62.
