Luka Dončić nearly helped Slovenia pull off a huge upset over France before watching the game slip away in the fourth.
In easily their best performance in either exhibition or EuroBasket play, Slovenia went toe to toe with France on Saturday. However, the upset bid came up short late as France pulled away in the fourth to win 103-95.
Luka was dominant yet again, finishing with 39 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. He finished 19-20 at the free throw line and 8-20 from the field.
He continued his tradition off starting fast in the first. This time, however, Slovenia followed in suit. After a frustrating defeat to Poland to open EuroBasket, the response was strong as Slovenia led throughout most of the first quarter.
He started the day off with a missed three, but immediately came away with a steal and converted the layup to get on the board. His next basket would be a three before setting up another.
Free throws continued to be a source of production for Luka as he knocked down a number of them before adding another three to finish the quarter with 15 points and three assists.
Most impressively, Slovenia maintained their strong start into the second period. While Luka slowed with his scoring, Slovenia had an answer to every French basket.
Luka, though, did have his say in the quarter, knocking down a late 3-pointer in transition. He finished with nine in the period, giving him 24 in the half.
Behind him, Slovenia opened up a seven point lead at the break, 54-47, playing their best basketball of the summer.
Neither team had much going in the second half early. At the midway point of the quarter, Slovenia had scored just five points but still led by two. A 3-pointer out of a timeout for France gave them the lead as Slovenia’s offense continued to struggle.
Slovenia again responded with some big shots to move back ahead by four. After it looked like Slovenia was going to fall behind as France took a 79-74 lead, back to back baskets tied the game once again.
Luka tied the game with a pair of free throws at the midway point of the quarter. Luka again got the line to tie the game with 4:27 left.
Eventually, though, France really seized control of the game by opening up a 91-83 lead in the final minutes of the game. A big 3-pointer by Slovenia made it a five-point game, but an equally big offensive rebound from France with just under two minutes remaining was costly.
A late 3-pointer from France was effectively the dagger, putting the French up nine in the final minutes and sealing the game.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
Category: General Sports
