The NBA’s biggest stars were shining bright in EuroLeague on Saturday — and 39 seemed to be the number.
In a showdown of big-name NBA centers, Nikola Jokic looked dominant against Kristaps Porzingis, scoring 39 points with 10 boards in a Serbian win.
Porzingis finished with 14 points, six rebounds and three blocks, but it wasn’t enough as Latvia fell 84-40. The win improved Serbia’s record to 3-0 so far, and with that, they qualified for the next round (despite being without Bogdan Bogdanovic).
Luka Doncic has looked dominant through the early part of the tournament — he leads EuroBasket in points per game — and that continued on Saturday when he dropped 39 for Slovenia.
Despite Doncic’s play, France came from behind in the second half to take the win, 103- 95. At the end of the game, there was a scuffle when France’s Sylvain Francisco broke the unwritten rule and decided to score rather than dribble the game out, as everyone else was shaking hands and walking off the court.
Slovenia is now 0-2 in EuroBasket, despite Doncic’s elite and energetic play. They have lost to two high-quality teams in Poland and France (both are 2-0), but now Slovenia’s games against Belgium, Iceland and Israel become must-win.