Slovenia beat Great Britain 93-81 on Tuesday in an exhibition game in preparation for EuroBasket.
Despite Luka Dončić suffering a knee contusion in Slovenia’s previous friendly against Latvia, the injury wasn’t too serious and he was cleared to participate in this contest.
Luka played for 28 minutes and had 28 points, six rebounds and 10 assists in this victory. Slovenia will have one more exhibition game on Thursday against Serbia before they begin EuroBasket action.
Dončić started in this game and
scored and assisted on the team’s opening seven points. He also had a block at the rim and a nice 3-pointer, helping Slovenia jump out to a 13-8 lead midway through the first quarter.
Luka continued to lead on both sides of the ball. He forced a steal on the perimeter to go along with his rejection and scored 12 points in the opening quarter. After 10 minutes of play, Slovenia was in front of Great Britain 27-22.
Slovenia remained in control for the rest of the first half. Luka earned a couple of steals, had some nice buckets and feasted at the charity stripe, converting on all ten of his attempts.
His best highlight in the first half, however, was a pass. While driving into the paint, he stopped just inside the restricted area and made a behind-the-back pass to the opposite wing, leading to another 3-pointer for Slovenia.
At the halfway point, Slovenia was ahead 56-44 and Luka had 21 points, three rebounds and five assists.
Luka started during the third quarter for Slovenia, and their lead quickly ballooned to 20. He hit his second 3-pointer of the night near the midway point of the period. Luka had a relatively quiet offensive performance to begin the second half, but Slovenia still led Great Britain 75-52 after three periods of play.
With the result not mattering, Slovenia in front and Luka having a good game, fans might’ve thought he would rest for the remainder of this one. Yet, he checked in and still played in the fourth quarter.
During this stretch, Luka displayed everything that makes him great. He had a nice assist that led to a 3-pointer, and continued to score with ease inside the paint. With 4:14 left to go, he finally sat down for good.
Key Takeaways
In any exhibition game, the goal is to play well and come out healthy. For Luka, both things were accomplished.
If there were any remaining concerns regarding his knee, his performance on Tuesday and the amount of time he played should put those to rest. Dončić had a dominant game on both sides of the ball and with Slovenia winning, they seem ready for EuroBasket.
However, they have one more exhibition contest to go, facing Nikola Jokić and Serbia on Thursday at 10 a.m. PT.
We’ll see if Luka plays in that game or if Slovenia decides rest is the best way for him to prepare for the upcoming competition. Luka already missed one exhibition game this summer, sitting out against Lithuania.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
