If Luka Dončić and the Slovenians needed a wake-up call at the FIBA World Cup, they got it on Sunday morning.
After bolting out to an early 14-point lead, Slovenia fell asleep and was run over by a potent German squad 100-71 at Okinawa in the final group phase game for both teams.
Slovenia and Germany already had punched their tickets to the quarterfinals by going undefeated in their first four group phase games, but Slovenia’s perfect run came to an abrupt end.
Slovenia will meet Canada in a match involving two Mavericks with Luka going against Dwight Powell and a Canadian team packed full of NBA players.
The Canadians rallied to beat Spain on Sunday morning and finish as the top seed in their group.
The quarterfinals start Tuesday with Slovenia-Canada set for Wednesday morning, Dallas time.
Against the Germans, Slovenia jumped out to a 25-11 lead after the first quarter, but it wasn’t going to be that easy. The Germans went on a 20-6 blitz to close out the first half and went ahead 38-34.
Their run extended to 50-17 bridging halftime and Germany was up 61-42 with 4:03 left in the third.
The Slovenians, led by the Mavericks’ superstar point guard, could not make up the difference down the stretch.
If there was a bright side, it was that Luka did not play in the final five minutes with the outcome clearly decided. And with two days off before their quarterfinal game, the Slovenians should be well-rested.
And so, Slovenia will go into the quarterfinals as the No. 2 seed out of Group K, with Germany owning the No. 1 seed out of the group.
The other quarterfinal matchups: U.S. vs. Italy, Germany vs. Latvia and Serbia vs. Lithuania.
Meanwhile, Australia, with Mavericks’ Josh Green and Dante Exum on their roster, did not make the quarterfinals. They were eliminated from medal contention and sent to the classification rounds after they lost to Slovenia on Friday.
Twitter: @ESefko
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