It was “Luka Magic” and he sent Slovenia the way of Greece!

He “unleashed” her Slovenia the amazing Luka Doncic, throwing her on her way Greece in the semi-finals of the SEF Pre-Olympic Tournament!

Putting in an outstanding performance, the Mavericks superstar led his country to victory over her of New Zealand with a score of 104-78missing out by just three points on the coveted “29” that would have given them first place in Group A, leaving Croatia in 2nd place.

The 25 year old “Luka Magic”finished the match with triple-double (36 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) in 35 minutes of participation, having in the final mgreat opportunity to give the lead to his team, missing a 3-pointer in the final seconds. He was also excellent Josh Nimbowith the naturalized center scoring 20 points and 12 rebounds, at a time when Prepelic and Hravat each had 14 points.

For the New Zealanders, who fought but ultimately failed to pull off the ‘miracle’, it stood out Sea Ealy with 28 points and 10 rebounds.

Let’s remember that the semi-finals will be held on Saturday (06/07).

The match:

The start of the match was excellent for the Slovenia, which from early on completely imposed its rhythm, controlling the match from the very first minute. By Luka Doncic to be accurate – unlike the game against Croatia – and not to abuse attacks, the Slovenians “built” early double-digit values ​​(2-12 in 4′), at the same time when the pressure, but also the excellent defense who were playing, had overwhelmed the New Zealanders. It is characteristic that the first in the field of the New Zealanders came 6:08′ after the jumble (!), with Doncic (10 points), Dimetz and Hrovat easily finding their way to the opponent’s basket for +18 and 27-9 of the quarter.

Looks familiar doesn’t it @dallasmavs? ??#FIBAQOT x @kzs_si ????

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— FIBA ​​(@FIBA) July 4, 2024

After the coldness they suffered in the first part of the match, the New Zealanders they succeeded and “cleared” their minds, coming out and reacting in the second period. Despite the excellent performance of “Luca Magic” (19 points in the half) and the actions of Nimbo, Pero Cameron’s team managed to “nibble” the difference, achieving 30 points in the quarter! Having him as the main protagonist sea ​​ili, who took his country by the hand and offered substance and score, the New Zealanders managed to reduce it to 5 points (39-44) in the 19th minute, before Doncic’s two shots sent the teams in the locker room with a score of 39-46.

Just because he is the @nbl DPOY doesn’t mean @shili___ has no bag on the other end ??#FIBAOQT x @tallblacks ????

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— FIBA ​​(@FIBA) July 4, 2024

The typical visitors continued to draw against Slovenia in the opening minutes of third period, staying close to the score (43-49). After three minutes, however, Aleksandar Sekulic’s team “tightened” its defense, while finding easy baskets in transition and surprise. With Doncic and Crovat to have 5 and 7 points respectively, Slovenia went on a 13-0 run, blowing the lead at +19 and 43-62 at 25′! With the psychology now at… heights, the Slovenians increased the difference up to +25 (46-71), closing the quarter at +20 and 77-57at the time when in the last two minutes the two teams exchanged three “hits” behind the 6.75m!

Luka magic takes over. ??#FIBAOQT x @kzs_si ????

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— FIBA ​​(@FIBA) July 4, 2024

With the outcome of the match virtually decided, all interest in fourth and final period revolved around the score difference, which would play a role in the final group standings. With the difference standing at 19-22 points in the first half of the quarter, the Slovenians were aiming for +29, which would give them first place in the group! Nevertheless, an outburst by the New Zealanders from behind 6.75m reduced the gap to 15 (75-90) in the 37th minute, putting New Zealand on the brink of qualification after losing by 9 points!

In the end, the Slovenians were in no mood to get involved in adventures, raising their performance in the last three minutes, where with Nibo and Doncic they reached +27 (77-104) with 20” before the end, before the New Zealanders with 1/2 shots etcthey win 78-104 which was also the final scoreas, so both Luca and Nimbo missed the coveted three-pointer at the end of the match.



The quarters: 9-27, 39-46, 57-77, 78-104.

See here the statistics of the match.