In his highest-scoring outing of EuroBasket yet, Luka Dončić poured in 42 points to lead Slovenia to a victory over Italy, 84-77. Slovenia advances to the quarterfinals and will face Germany.
Luka was marvelous from the jump, scoring 22 points in the first quarter. He finished the game with those 42 points on 11-19 shooting overall and 5-11 shooting from range. He added 10 rebounds but just one assist as teammates struggled to knock down open shots.
In a tournament full of fast starts, Sunday’s may
have been the fastest yet for Luka. He opened the game with back-to-back steals and while he missed 3-pointers on the ensuing possession each time, it set an early tone for his level of activity.
He did get on the scoreboard with a midrange jumper to tie the contest at 4-4. After converting a pair of freebies, he followed it up with 3-pointers on consecutive possessions, capping off a 15-0 Slovenia run and forcing an Italy timeout.
The break did nothing to slow down Luka, he then converted a short jumper through some contact. The next two possessions saw former NBA wing Danilo Gallinari attempt to defend him, but Luka blew by him on both occassions, getting to the rim the first time and finishing through a foul on the next.
He then forced the second timeout of the quarter for Italy with a 3-pointer, putting his side up 25-9. The final two of his 22 first-quarter points came at the free throw line, helping Slovenia to a 29-11 lead after the first.
Immediately after the quarter ended, Luka jogged across the court and into the locker room, where he spent the opening minutes of the second. When he returned, he appeared to be slightly favoring his right leg, though it clearly wasn’t an injury that was impacting his game in the first.
Without him, Slovenia largely held serve before a run saw them eventually close to within 12 points at 32-20, forcing a timeout and leading to Luka coming back onto the court.
Italy took a far more aggressive approach toward Luka, doubling him off ball screens and forcing the ball out of his hands. It didn’t matter as he still got the switch he wanted and buried a 3-pointer, his fourth of the game, to extend the breathing room for Slovenia again.
Luka then hit a tough baseline fadeaway, but Italy’s Simone Fontecchio started to find a groove himself, helping bring his side back into the game as a 3-pointer made it a 10-point game.
Luka tried to hold off the run, getting to the line before splitting a pair of freebies. Italy’s run continued and a 3-pointer with just over a minute remaining made it a seven-point game. Slovenia responded with a three on the other end before Luka drew a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to give him 30 points in the half and make it a 50-40 lead at the break.
Italy came out of the locker room with a sense of urgency, initially cutting the deficit to six points. Luka quickly halted that momentum with a wing 3-pointer. Even with Italy placing focus on getting the ball out of Luka’s hands defensively, a jumper from Slovenia proceeded a Luka steal that led to a foul and two free throws.
More Italy fouls led to more Slovenian free throws and the lead quickly moved back to 15 points. Back-to-back threes from the Italians did trim it to a nine-point game but some costly offensive fouls again ruined any chance of momentum.
Alen Omić‘s work on the glass for Slovenia created a number of second-chance opportunities and putbacks at the rim, helping keep Slovenia up by double digits. Even when Luka sat let in the quarter, Slovenia kept the pedal to the metal.
A desperation Gallinari 3-pointer before the shot clock buzzer came with a foul for what would have been a pivotal four-point play late in the period, but the free throw was missed and Slovenia hit their own desperation 3-pointer late in the shot clock to completely halt that momentum, too. Another jumper to end the quarter for Slovenia gave them a 72-56 lead heading into the fourth.
By the time Luka returned, Slovenia stil had a 15-point lead. His arrival didn’t immediately spell good for Slovenia as some turnovers and missed shots handed Italy opportunities. But, as was the case throughout hte game, they failed to take adavantage of them and, eventually, Luka’s offensive rebound putback plus a foul made it a 13-point lead for Slovenia again.
However, while Luka was creating open looks for his teammates, Slovenia wasn’t converting and Italy finally pieced together a 7-0 run, making it a 78-72 game with 4:28 remaining. After the refs missed a kicked ball violation, Gallinari drew a foul on the other end. He split the free throws, missing the second before the Italians got the offensive rebound and drew another foul. Those two free throws made it a three-point game.
With Italy doubling Luka and forcing the ball out of his hands, Slovenia continued to miss open looks. Even when they drew a foul, Slovenia missed both free throws, compounding their struggles in the fourth. Another missed open look led to another Italy basket.
Luka eventually drew a foul and made both free throws to reach 40 points and stem the tide briefly. Slovenia finally got a defensive stop on the other end to lead by three with 1:07 remaining.
After an empty Slovenia possession, Fontecchio threw up a wild shot that did not fall. Luka grabbed the rebound and was fouled, converting both free throws to make it 82-77 with 32.6 seconds left.
Italy capped off it’s day of missed opportunities with a miss on its penultimate possession and a turnover in the final seconds, allowing Slovenia to win going away.
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