There were no tickets left at the Stozice Arena in Ljubljana. Slovenia, after its disappointment in the last Eurobasket in which it fell unexpectedly and resoundingly against Poland in the quarterfinals, began its preparation for the 2023 World Cup. Against Greece, a rival of the first magnitude but which did not have Giannis Antetokounmpo, who continues to with physical discomfort and without deciding if he will finally be at the World Cup or not. Yes, of course, Luka Doncic was there, who had not played a basketball game since April 7. For a long time, things about his Mavs not even qualifying for the 2023 NBA playoffs.
The exceptional atmosphere did not serve Slovenia, which led for many minutes but collapsed at the end (91-98). Luka Doncic achieved a triple-double: 20 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists. And, as usual with him, he left the best plays of the night. But it was Greece that took the win. Even without Giannis.
Itoudis’s team trailed by eight at halftime, but in the second half they came back with a tremendous night from Kostas Papanikolaou’s three-pointer: 19 points with six shots made from beyond the three-point line. In addition, Michalis Lountzis scored 13 points and Dinos Mitoglou another 13 in their first game after almost 500 days out through injury. Thomas Walkup, the American Olympiacos point guard who played a key role in the win with seven straight points in the hot moments of the fourth quarter, made his debut for Greece. He finished with 17 and 6 assists.
In Slovenia, which starts with a team in which Doncic will have a priori accompaniment with fewer guarantees than in other championships, Jordan Morgan added 16 points, Klemen Prepelic 13 and Vlatko Cancar and Zoran Dragic 12 each. Doncic signed some discreet percentages, especially from the personal line (9/17) in his return to the slopes, in which there was no lack of highlights.
Now, Slovenia will play Greece again on Friday. Next weekend their preparation will go through Malaga, in the tremendous FEB centenary tournament in which they will play against Spain and the United States.
2023-08-03 00:35:04
#Doncic #returns #tripledouble #defeat #Greece
