Luka Doncic and Slovenia powered past Jonas Valanciunas and Lithuania on Thursday.
With the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers currently paused until the next window of play opens in November, FIBA action now shifts to national competitions. The 2022 EuroBasket tournament to determine Europe’s basketball champion runs from Sept. 1-18. The 2022 AmeriCup for FIBA teams in the Americas runs from Sept. 2-11.
EuroBasket full schedule & stats
AmeriCup full schedule & stats
Sept. 1 results
Spain 114, Bulgaria 87
Spain was the first team in the EuroBasket competition to get in the win column, and did so in dominant fashion. Pelicans’ Willy Hernangomez paced Spain with 16 points, six rebounds and four assists. Willy’s brother and Raptors forward, Juancho Hernangomez, finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.
Turkey 72, Montenegro 68
Turkey was able to edge out a tournament-opening win, punctuated by 76ers swingman Furkan Korkmaz draining a shot from just inside half court as time expired. Cavs forward Cedi Osman and Rockets’ Alperen Sengun chipped in 15 and 12 points, respectively. With the win, Turkey is tied with Spain and Belgium for first place in Group A.
TURKISH SUPERSTAR, @FurkanKorkmaz!! 🌟
pic.twitter.com/oxZmz0pGXL
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) September 1, 2022
Bosnia-Herzegovina 95, Hungary 85
Bosnia-Herzegovina cruised past Hungary to chart the first Group B win of the tournament. Blazers forward Jusuf Nurkic led the way with 19 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Slovenia 92, Lithuania 85
The reigning EuroBasket champions used a strong 4th quarter to hold off Domantas Sabonis (10 points), Jonas Valanciunas (9 points, 12 rebounds) and Lithuania in its opener. Bulls guard Goran Dragic stabilized Slovenia with 19 points. Luka Doncic struggled with his shot (4-14 FG, 1-8 from 3-point range) but contributed in other ways, racking up 10 assists and six boards.
We hoped this game would never end! 😳
A ferocious battle between two contenders. but @kzs_si 🇸🇮 take the win against Lithuania 🇱🇹 to begin their title defense!#EuroBasket x #BringTheNoise
— #EuroBasket 2022 (@EuroBasket) September 1, 2022
Germany 79, France 63
Germany opened its 2022 EuroBasket campaign with suffocating defense, limiting France to a 38% overall shooting clip. Free agent guard Dennis Schroder tallied 11 points and 5 assists in the win. Three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds for France. Germany sits atop Group B with Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Belgium 79, Georgia 76
Pacers center Goga Bitadze’s 14 points and nine rebounds weren’t enough to push Group A’s host country past Belgium in an OT thriller. Georgia made a 4th-quarter surge to send the game into extra time, where Belgium’s Jonathan Tabu hit a clutch 3-pointer with three seconds left to seal the win.