EuroBasket 2017 - Day 3 Report
All 24 teams took to the floor on the third day of EuroBasket 2017, in a whirlwind of high quality, high scoring, attacking basketball.
A good start from Iceland didn't last long, as Poland's superb shooting from three-point territory - they had 10 threes in total - saw them build an increasingly insurmountable lead. Some nice moves from Iceland towards the end would not be enough to turn the tables in their favour, Poland finishing thirty points ahead of them.
The points kept falling for France over Greece. Joffrey Lauvergne scored 21 to go with 11 rebounds from him, a point total matched by Evan Fournier. Despite their best efforts and some good play on both ends from Thanasis Antetokounmpo, there was nothing Greece could do to get back into the game, France running out comfortable winners, 95-87.
There was very little between Finland and Slovenia all the way through the final Group A game of the day. Slovenia played well as a team, and Goran Dragic managed 29 points, but Sasu Salin's shooting was highly accurate in the game and Lauri Markkanen had 24 for Finland, two of which made it a one point game late in the fourth quarter. A decisive steal and basket from Anthony Randolph with seconds to go sealed it for Slovenia, who took their second win of the tournament, 81 to 78.
Georgia had the lead over Germany over in the first game of Group B, but it didn't take long for the Germans to turn the tables. The first half saw a big battle between Germany's Dennis Schroeder and Tornike Shengalia of Georgia in the scoring category. In the second half Germany shared the ball well, and a combination of breaking through the Georgian defence and good outside shooting they won the game by ten points.
Viacheslav Kravstov led Ukraine's big men to an early advantage over Italy, but the Italians continued their three-point scoring show, with five of their players notching up 17 total three-point shots. This gave Italy the edge they needed, Ukraine played well in the paint but could not convert enough of their chances to catch up with Italy, who won 78-66.
Over Lithuania, Israel's Omri Casspi perfromed well early, and Richard Howell went on to be the top scorers for the hosts with 20 points. Once again, though, Israel could not go the whole distance. Lithuania were confident, but not overly so, and made Israel pay for some lacklustre defending to take their first win of the tournament, 88 to 73.
In Group C, Montenegro led Hungary from the start, and despite 20 points from David Vojvoda and some great moves early on from Adam Hanga, the Montenegrins dominated from short range and outscored Hungary 72-48.
There was nothing Czech Republic could do to stop Spain, whose rampant play saw them lead 56-23 at half time. Spain showed truly world class team cohesion, sharing the ball well, with Marc Gasol dishing out some superb assists. It became all about damage limitation for Czech Republic, and they managed to end the game only 37 points behind.
Romania's opening run would be out-done by Croatia's strength and being consistently on target both on offence and defence. Vlad Moldoveanu did well to create the best scoring chances for both himself and his team mates, but between them Dario Saric - 11 points and 10 rebounds - and Bojan Bogdanovic - 21 points - Croatia were dominant over the hosts, winning here 74-58.
Belgium were lifted over Latvia by an early scoring run from Axel Hervelle, but it didn't take long for Kristaps Porzingis to take over. On-target with his shooting and poised with his dunks, the New York Knicks sensation ran out to 27 points (matched by his team mate Janis Timma) as Latvia devastated Belgium by 92 points to 64.
Boban Marjanovic came off the bench to put on a big show for Serbia, putting up points for them over Russia when they needed it most. This close game saw Russia with a seven point lead going into the final minute, but some decisive last-minute defence from Timofey Mozgov would seal a huge win for Russia over Serbia by just three points.
Turkey's play in the paint over Great Britain saw them score thirty points from close range. Gabe Olaseni once again had a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds, and Andrew Lawrence had a good scoring performance as Great Britain's good, unselfish play was ultimately out-done by Turkey's offensive prowess. Melih Mahmutoglu had 24 points as Turkey comfortably took their first win in this competition, beating Great Britain 84-70.
Keep up to date with EuroBasket 2017 by visiting the tournament's official website.
