Luka Doncic and Slovenia still have Olympic hopes. And so does the Philippines, much to its own surprise.
Doncic had 36 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, and Slovenia beat New Zealand 104-78 on Thursday to clinch a semifinal spot in the Olympic qualifying tournament at Piraeus, Greece. Slovenia needed to win by at least 10 points to make the semifinals.
Slovenia’s opponent on Saturday is Greece, meaning it’ll be Doncic and fellow NBA All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo leading their squads — with the winner advancing to Sunday’s final with a berth in the Paris Olympics at stake, and the loser eliminated.
Josh Nebo had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Slovenia. Shea Ili led New Zealand with 28 points.
Semifinal Matchups
The matchups for Saturday’s semifinals are taking shape.
At Valencia, Spain — Finland vs. Spain; Bahamas vs. Lebanon.
At Piraeus, Greece — Slovenia vs. Greece; Croatia vs. Dominican Republic.
At Riga, Latvia — Brazil vs. Philippines; Cameroon vs. Latvia.
At San Juan, Puerto Rico — Lithuania vs. Italy or Puerto Rico; Italy or Puerto Rico vs. Ivory Coast or Mexico.
The finals at all four sites are Sunday, and those four winners go to the Paris Olympics.
Georgia 96, Philippines 94
The Philippines lost but advanced to Saturday’s semifinals of their tournament in Riga, Latvia, anyway. That created a bit of an issue; the team had flights home scheduled for Friday.
“I guess we’re going to have to move them back a little bit,” Philippines coach Tim Cone said. “That’s how surprised we are to be here and talking to you guys. It’s the first time I’ve felt good about losing.”
Georgia needed to win by at least 19 points to have any chance of advancing.
Sandro Mamukelashvili led Georgia with 26 points and Goga Bitadze finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Justin Brownlee led all scorers with 28 points for the Philippines, adding eight rebounds and eight assists as well.
