Basketball European Championship: Defending champions Slovenia and Doncic are defeated by Poland

Defending champion Slovenia and NBA superstar Luka Doncic surprisingly failed in the quarterfinals of the European Basketball Championship.

Basketball European Championship: Defending champions Slovenia and Doncic are defeated by Poland

Defending champion Slovenia and NBA superstar Luka Doncic surprisingly failed in the quarterfinals of the European Basketball Championship. After a bad start, the 2017 European champion lost 87:90 (39:58) to outsiders Poland in Berlin.

Dallas Mavericks pro Doncic, who had already scored 47 points in a game in this tournament, only had 14 points and flew off the field prematurely after his fifth personal foul. A very weak first half was fatal for the Slovenians.

Before Doncic, top favorite Serbia with Nikola Jokic and the Greeks around Giannis Antetokounmpo were eliminated. The three NBA top stars will therefore leave the final round in Germany without a medal. On the Polish side, Mateusz Ponitka surpassed with a rare triple-double (26 points, 15 rebounds, ten assists). The outsider will face the French in the semifinals on September 16 (5:15 p.m. / Magentasport), who had previously beaten Italy 93:85 (77:77, 38:31) after extra time.

One year after Olympic silver in Tokyo, France is on course for the next medal. Rudy Gobert (19 points and 14 rebounds) and Evan Fournier (17) were in the quarter-finals in front of 6324 spectators - including Germany's captain Dennis Schröder - guaranteed progress. Top scorer was Thomas Heurtel (20). The Italians, led by the passionate coach Gianmarco Pozzecco, were unable to pull off another surprise three days after the spectacular coup against top favorite Serbia.

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