Luka Doncic and Slovenia didn’t have much energy in the first half Wednesday, and they paid dearly for it in the second half as they were eliminated from the EuroBasket tournament in stunning fashion.
In a very physical game played in Berlin, up-and-coming Poland shocked Slovenia, 90-87, in the quarterfinals of the EuroBasket tournament. For Poland, the victory sent shock waves throughout the international basketball world as it built a 23-point lead in the first half and went on to derail the defending champions.
It was one of the biggest surprises in the modern EuroBasket era, as practically no one gave Poland any chance of upsetting Slovenia, who advanced to the bronze medal game in the Olympics last year.
Poland will now play France in one semifinal game on Friday, and Germany will face Spain in Friday’s other semifinal. The winners will square off Sunday in the championship game.
“First, congratulations to Poland,” said Doncic, who finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, six turnovers and a technical foul. “They played an amazing game from the first minute to the end.
“It was a big achievement for them. And for us, we didn’t go into the game like we wanted to. The energy wasn’t there, but then we came back. But Poland was still fighting, so congrats to Poland.”
The game took a physical toll on Doncic, who was knocked to the floor several times and was limping on various occasions before fouling out with 3:02 left and Slovenia trailing, 80-76. Doncic said he probably was not 100 percent — he wound up converting just 5-of-15 shots – and was occasionally seen holding his lower back.
“I received an injection in the third quarter,” the Dallas Mavericks’ superstar point guard said. “I’ve been dealing with a lot this EuroBasket, but that’s not the reason (Slovenia lost).
“Today I played terrible. I let my team down, I let the whole country who was supporting us down, and that’s on me. I’ve got to look back on this game and be better.”
Behind some terrific shooting from beyond the three-point line and a 12-2 advantage in fast break points, Poland broke out to a 54-31 lead late in the second quarter and led 58-39 at intermission. Most of the damage by Poland came from Mateusz Ponitka, who scored 16 first-half points and finished with 26 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists.
It was just the third triple-double in the history of the EuroBasket tournament.
“He had an amazing game,” Doncic said. “I’m not surprised. I played a couple of times against him.
“He’s a great player, a great leader. Probably, he is an NBA-type player. I’m not the GM. I’m the player.”
Slovenia hustled back into the game with some solid defense and also by outscoring Poland, 24-6, in the third quarter. Poland toted a slim, 64-63, lead into the final period, and a jumper by Goran Dragic inched Slovenia ahead, 65-64, at the outset of the fourth quarter.
But after Doncic fouled out, Ponitka nailed a pair of free throws, A. J. Slaughter scored inside, and Ponitka added a three-pointer and two charity tosses as Poland mounted an 89-80 lead with 1:01 to go.
However, Slovenia didn’t go away quietly as two charity tosses from Klemen Prepelic, a three-pointer by Edo Muric, and a layup from Dragic sliced Poland’s deficit to 90-87 with 31 seconds remaining. But Prepelic missed badly on a game-tying three-point attempt near midcourt with two seconds to go, and the celebration started for Poland.
“Especially in that second quarter, we had bad offense, and from bad on the offensive end to bad defense, it was going in a bad direction,” Slovenia coach Aleksander Sekulic said. “But give credit also to our guys. They fought in the second half.
“The third quarter was just amazing. We left everything we had on the court. We just fought our way back. We made some crucial mistakes and they made some big shots and they deserved to win. We lost the game in the first half. That’s the bottom line.”
In addition to Doncic, Slovenia got 21 points from Vlatka Cancar, 17 points and seven rebounds from Dragic, and 13 points and five boards from Jaka Blazic.
Besides Ponitka, Poland received ample support from Slaughter (16 points, six rebounds, three steals), Michael Sokolowski (16 points, five rebounds), Jaroslaw Zyskowski (14 points) and Aleksander Balcerowski (11 points).
“Give credit to Poland,” Doncic said. “Most had us as favorites, but Poland has a great team.
“This EuroBasket was amazing to see. I’m sad that we couldn’t get through, but I think this EuroBasket was something else. There were a lot of amazing and great teams.”
One of those up-and-coming teams — Poland — caught lightning in a bottle and shocked another one of those great teams — Slovenia — on Wednesday.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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