The group stage of the European Basketball Championship ends with the elimination of the defending champions. The Azzurri take to the court on Sunday 7 against the Lakers’ NBA star
The last day of the group stage completes the round of 16 bracket, and the verdict for the Azzurri is not the best. Awaiting Italy, which finished second in its group, will be Luka Doncic’s Slovenia, third in Group D thanks to its victory in the head-to-head match with Israel. Greece tops Group C, handing the tournament its first high-profile elimination: Scariolo’s Spain is going home, finishing fifth after losing to Giannis and his teammates. Here are the results of the fifth day with the round of 16 matchups, which will take place on Saturday and Sunday in Riga.
The day opened with another decisive match between Bosnia and Georgia: the 84-76 victory earned third place for Bekir’s team, led by Nurkic’s double-double (15 points and 12 rebounds) and Roberson’s 15 points. Mamukelashvili’s 20 points were not enough to secure a comeback for Georgia, which qualified in fourth place thanks to Greece’s 90-86 victory. Antetokounmpo returned to lead the team as a true driving force, missing a triple-double by just one assist (25 points and 14 rebounds), well supported by an excellent Dorsey. Spain bids farewell to the tournament as defending champions, despite a near comeback that faded in the final minutes.
The standings:
Greece (4-1)
ITALY (4-1)
Bosnia (3-2)
Georgia (2-3)
Spain (2-3) out
Cyprus (0-5) out
Group D— While the four qualifiers were already known, there was still a ranking to be decided: France climbed to the top, easily beating Iceland 114-74. Eight French players scored in double figures in a one-sided match, with Risacher the top scorer (15). The most heated contest was between Slovenia and Israel, where Doncic dominated in the 106-96 final: Luka delivered his usual stellar performance, finishing with 37 points, 11 rebounds, and 9 assists, narrowly missing his second triple-double of the tournament. This result mathematically secures second place for Poland, who were beaten 70-69 by Belgium in the final: Lecomte’s basket with 3 seconds left decided the game. The standings: France (4-1) Poland (3-2) Belgium (3-2) out Iceland (0-5)Slovenia (3-2) Israel (3-2) Belgium (2-3) out Iceland (0-5) out The pairings— Below are the matchups for the round of 16 of the European Basketball Championship:
Saturday, September 6:
Turkey-Sweden
Germany-Portugal
Lithuania-Latvia
Serbia-Finland
Sunday, September 7:
ITALY-Slovenia
Greece-Israel
France-Georgia
Poland-Bosnia
