Without context, the sight of Luka Dončić running to the locker room at the end of the first quarter with his trainer following closely would’ve been worrisome. Without context, the grimacing with every step, the wincing with every movement would’ve been the story of Sunday’s Round of 16 game in the EuroBasket championships.
But that run to the locker room, the wincing and the grimacing, came after Dončić delivered such a violent blow to the opposing defense that anything bothering the Slovenian superstar wasn’t having much of an effect.
Dončić scored 22 points in that first quarter, later returning to complete another 40-point EuroBasket performance and finish off Italy, 84-77, to advance to the tournament’s quarterfinals. Dončić scored 42 points to go with 10 rebounds and three steals.
It’s his second 40-point game in EuroBasket play and his highest-scoring game of the tournament thus far. He’s leading the tournament in scoring, averaging 34.0 points per game.
Slovenia will take on Germany, one of the few top-ranked teams to avoid an upset in the first round of elimination play at EuroBasket. Nikola Jokić’s Serbia squad, as well as France and host Latvia, all failed to survive the weekend.
Dončić opened Sunday’s game against Italy with a pair of steals, another area where his improved fitness has shown up on the court. However, after the second steal, he tried to trigger a fast break and collided with an Italian player, instantly looking like he was in pain.
Despite the obvious limp, Dončić still managed to carve apart the Italian defense, using his quickness first, to get going in the paint before eventually stretching back out to the 3-point line.
Following the 22-point first quarter, Dončić returned to the Slovenian locker room to get his quad muscle stretched out, a league source told The Athletic. He was able to return in the second quarter and finished with 30 first-half points.
And while Slovenia nearly coughed up the game in the second half, with Miami Heat guard Simone Fontecchio shooting Italy back into things, Dončić closed it out at the foul line, where he made 15 of 16 attempts. He’s 74-for-83 from the free-throw line for the tournament (89.1 percent). Dončić has never finished an NBA season better than 79 percent from the free-throw line.
Germany, ranked No. 3 in the world entering the tournament, has won each of its games in the tournament by at least 19 points so far.
(Photo of Luka Dončić in international action in August: Jurij Kodrun / Getty Images)
