The second race of the day in the race for 5th place sees the confrontation between two other disappointments, Lithuania and Slovenia. Luka Doncic must demonstrate that he has absorbed yesterday’s defeat and the mistreatment of the Canadian defence.
1Q LIVE – Jokubaitis lay-up to start the match. Prepelic from three and Tobey promptly overturn the scoreboard 2-5. Open match and crossover in the score: triple by Dimsa and alley-oop by Valanciunas, Lithuania +2 after 2′. Triple also for Doncic, the Jokubaitis-Valaciunas axis still hurts, Donci’s jump shot for 10-11. Dimsa from three takes advantage of the bland intensity of the match and packs the 7-0 with Valanciunas for 16-10. Nikolic stops the Lithuanian advance but with 4’40” Maksvytis calls timeout after the basket by Bradzeikis 18-12. Two triples attempted in vain by Dragic don’t help Slovenia, Nikolic’s with 3’39” does, but the defenders were thinking of chasing Luka… Triple also for Kuzminskas from the corner, and stepback by Doncic to applause 21-17 with 2’50”. The Slovenian phenomenon is still in evidence with 1/2 free throws. Another triple from Kuzminskas, then a biscuit from Baltic defense sends Prepelic 2/2 to the line and Lithuania +4. Normantas also puts the bomb, followed by doncic who still makes 1/2 with 1’10”. This time Kuzminskas scores in penetration, and Normantas supports the basket with a counterattack on Doncic’s loss. Prepelic tries to triple but leaving 5″ enough for Sirvydis to end the counter-attack on the siren. In the 10′ 33-21.
2Q LIVE – Sirvydas and Doncic put two shots in the 12′, the Lithuanian then adds two from attacking rebounds. Pace always not very intense, defenses quite loose, Doncic makes the second triple. 42- 30. Doncic wedges in the Baltic area, but misses the additional. On Lithuania’s restart, Doncic’s defensive rebound launches Dragic to assist for Tobey’s triple. With 4’20” the timeout is by Maksvytis. The foul in attack by Valanciunas is not well exploited by Slovenia, but only with 3’07” Jokubaitis writes the 44-35. Doncic shortens with two free throws and zero protests. Brazdeikis triples with an assist from Jokubaitis, and Dragic repays Lithuania with the same coin 47-40 with 1’58”. Dragic sees the Baltic area, Doncic is on the bench, and scores again from three 47-43. Brazdeikis doesn’t he breaks it down and puts it in too. Dimsa puts in another one in the 24th minute, leaving only 27.1″ on the clock. Timeout Slovenia, who performs a decomposed attack that leaves 3″ to Brazdeikis who takes the scoreboard and the basket, but doesn’t score. Lithuania ahead 53-43 in the 20th minute. Doncic 19 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist; Valanciunas 10 points and 6 rebounds.
3Q LIVE – Tobey’s basket in the 21st minute. Response from Jokubaitis but the one-two from the arc of Nikolic and Tobey 55-51 with 7’42” makes Maksvytis jump to his feet for a ready timeout. Lithuania restarts from the Jokubaitis-Valanciunas axis and the alley-oop. Hrovat closes the 33rd minute with a free out of two +4. Doncic starts to blurt out on Dimsa’s third foul, but puts in the two free throws received. Brazdeikis has space and hits from three with 6’23”. Free for Valanciunas, 2/2, the Balts move away +7. The Pelicans pivot scores two more with 4’49”, while Doncic shoots two attempts from three. Jokubaitis signs a coast to coast recovery and with 3’53” Sekulic decides it’s time to open with the team in timeout on the 66-55. Dimec’s elbow on the back of Normantas’ neck is not sanctioned after a challenge, but Slovenia confirms shooting difficulties. With 3’17” Motiejunas sends Doncic to the line (he’s 6/16 shooting at the moment) who scores two free throws (8/11 at the moment). Motiejunas scores by receiving his back to the basket, Hrovat replies with two free throws 68-59. Sirvydis crushes for +11, Dimec in line with 1’45” 2/2 marked. Valancinas returns to dominate under the basket, scores and overcomes the dispute of Doncic who complained of a contact. Aleksej Nikolic hits two free throws on the other side of the field, and it goes in the 30th minute. Kuzminskas triples with a shot at 24″, 75-63.
4Q LIVE – With 9’32” it starts again with a second triple in a row by Kuzminskas. Dimsa sends Doncic 2/2 to the line. Slovenia presses, trying to be aggressive, but Normantas closes the 31st minute with the +16 bomb. Valanciunas from a standstill adds two +18s with 8’22” Sekulic timeout. Of course it’s hard to recover if the Baltics have so far shot 13/20 from three points (65%), and moreover they defend well. Sirvydis hits another triple, but the young Glas (22 years old from Mornar Bar) responds in kind. Sirvydis from attacking rebound signs the +20 in the 34th minute. Certainly with Blazic injured and Prepelic sitting down after only 7′, the arrows in the Slovenian bow were missing. Doncic then makes 1/3 in the line. Lithuania doesn’t miss the beat, making it 92-69 with two consecutive baskets in the 35th minute from Valanciunas. Nikolic makes two free throws with 3’56” then makes a penetration, but it’s still +19 for Lithuania. Brazdeikis with 2’22” scores from below, Dragic finally makes a triple, but with less than 2′ to play, Sedekerskis makes a recovery end all doubts. The triple by Doncic with 34″, the free throws by Sedekerskis with 27″ for the 100 points scored. Lithuania in the final for the fifth place against the surprise Latvia, Slovenia in confrontation with the national team for the eighth. Both races on Saturday.
Lithuania – Slovenia 100-84. Boxscore: 24p+12r Valanciunas, 15 Brazdeikis, 14 Kuzminskas and Sirvydis, 0p+10as Kariniauskas over la Lithuania; 29p+6r+6as Doncic, 14 Nikolic, 13p+9r Tobey per la Slovenia. Tiro da 3 punti 14/25 Lit; 15/40 Slo. Liberi: 10/10 Lit; 23/28 Slo.
2023-09-07 14:24:00
#LIVE #World #Solid #Lithuania #takes #Latvia #Slovenia #touches #Italy
