The 23-year-old defensive player of the Dallas Mavericks, who led the European champions to the quarter-finals with an 88:72 win over Belgium in Berlin, provided a novelty in the last 30 years of the European Championship with his 35 points: It was his third 35-point game in series. Doncic had previously scored 36 points against Germany on Tuesday and 47 against France on Wednesday.
In general, there were only two players in European history before Doncic in Doron Jamchi and Nikos Galis who managed three 35-point games in a row. Despite strong tournaments in 2001 and 2005, Dirk Nowitzki is not one of them. The Slovenian Doncic was already part of the European champion team five years ago. At that time, Goran Dragic, who is now part of the squad again, was still the top protagonist. In Doncic, the Serbian Nikola Jokic and the Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo, three of the best NBA professionals are represented at the European Championship.
