Behind a huge game from Lauri Markkanen, Finland beat Nikola Jokic and Serbia in a stunner. Markkanen had 29 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals, and three assists. It’s the type of performance Finland needed to beat Jokic and one that puts Markkanen at the top of EuroBasket MVP consideration.
Jokic finished the game with 33 points, but it wasn’t enough to knock out Finland and the Finnisher. It wasn’t just Markkanen who played well, Elias Valtonen hit big shots late to help Finland advance. Finland will now be in the EuroBasket quarterfinals, which will either be against Georgia or France. That game will be on Sept 9 and will be a lot of fun to watch.
This was a nice bounce-back game for Lauri Markkanen, who has been a little up and down the last few games. To have a big game like this against Jokic and Serbia is nice to see. It won’t be long until Markkanen rejoins the Jazz and starts the season with Utah. It will be interesting to see if his play from EuroBasket carries over into the Utah Jazz season.
