Lauri Markkanen and the Finnish National Team lost to Lithuania today. Lauri Markkanen struggled in this one, going 6/17 from the field. He did put up a decent three-point percentage, going 5/13 from the field (38.5%), and also made 6/8 free throws. But it wasn’t enough to get past Lithuania, which had a solid team outing across the board. The most well-known Lithuanian is Jonas Valanciunas, who had 8 points and 5 rebounds but ended the game with a +6 rating.
Finland got caught pretty far behind in this one and made a late push to make it close, but it was too little too late. Markkanen is the focal point and star of this Finland team. When he plays at the level he has been, they are one of the better teams in the tournament. When he has a bit of a struggle shooting, he needs other players to step up, and he just didn’t get enough from his team when he needed it.
You can watch the highlights here.
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