While the anticipation of the European Championship quarter-finals against Greece (Tuesday from 20:15 live on RTL) is growing in the German basketball camp, there are great concerns about the Slovenian team. The reason: NBA superstar Luka Doncic is injured and may fail.
Should Slovenia, co-favorite at the European Championships, play their quarter-finals against Poland on Wednesday in Berlin without Luka Doncic? The defending champion’s NBA superstar is battered once again and is in danger of missing the second knockout game of the finals.
The Slovenian portal “Mozzartsport” published a video on Monday showing a visibly disappointed Doncic sitting injured on the bench. The 23-year-old had a thick ice pack wrapped around his ankle and was unable to train with the team.
Coach gives Slovenian fans hope
Coach Aleksander Sekulic then said he hoped his superstar wasn’t seriously injured. At the same time, the head coach gave hope to his own supporters and said: “At this stage of the tournament, every player has minor injuries, especially when so much contact is allowed during the game. With the exception of Zoran [Dragic] but no one really has big problems.”
Whether Doncic will be ready for the tip-off against the Poles on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., Sekulic could not or did not want to reveal.
Doncic even outshines Nowitzki
Should the Dallas Mavericks’ superstar drop out, it would be a heavy blow for one of the two top favorites for the European title. With 28.0 points per game, the 23-year-old Doncic is the second-best scorer of the previous European Championship and with almost 33 minutes per game the defending champion’s all-time favorite.
On the way to the quarterfinals, Doncic set several records. For example, he was the first player to score at least 35 points in three consecutive games in the past 30 years. Not even Dirk Nowitzki managed this feat.
Doncic’s 47-point gala against France also meant a new record: Never in Slovenia’s history has a player scored more points in a European Championship game.
