Luka Doncic was the star of the round of 16 of the EuroBasket, leading his team to the next round with a huge performance: 42 points, 10 rebounds and 43 efficiency in 33 minutes of play. The Slovenian barely handed out one assist in the whole game, but not for lack of trying. Every time he looked for his teammates, they missed, forcing him to take all the offensive load and carry the team on his back.
Doncic closed the first quarter with 22 points and reached 30 at halftime. Italy, however, managed to unsettle the Balkans, closing down space and applying constant double marking. A 21-12 run in the final period tightened the score and led to a close finish, where the point guard again appeared to score the decisive free throws that sealed the duel.
The Ljubljana native was practically alone in attack throughout the game. In fact, only Klemen Prepelic reached double figures with 11 points, while none of the others surpassed the seven-point mark.
In the second quarter, Slovenia came to dominate by 19 points, although the difference was reduced to only seven with just over a minute to go before the break. It was then that the cameras captured Doncic’s brutal anger towards his teammates. With 28 points already in his account and determined to maintain the lead, he exploded in a timeout: “Calm down, everybody, damn it! You are nervous and we are seven up. Focus, we don’t have to get angry with each other. We play against them, not against us. Come on!”
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