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Nets

The NBA announced that the Dallas Mavericks will play a preseason game against reigning EuroLeague champion Real Madrid at the WiZink Center in Madrid on Oct. 10, 2023, at 8:45 p.m. CET.
This will be the NBA&rsquo;s eighth game in the Spanish capital and 20th game in Spain overall, and it will mark 35 years since the NBA's first game in Spain in 1988.
The Mavericks currently feature four-time NBA All-Star and All-NBA First Team member Luka Dončić, who joined Real Madrid at the age of 13 and became the youngest-ever EuroLeague MVP and EuroLeague Final Four MVP when he led Real Madrid to the 2018 EuroLeague title at age 19. The Mavericks also feature 2016 NBA champion and eight-time NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving.
Real Madrid features Spanish legend and former NBA draftee Sergio Llull as well as several former NBA players, including Rudy Fern&aacute;ndez, Mario Hezonja, Džanan Musa and Sergio Rodr&iacute;guez. Real Madrid has won a record 36 La Liga ACB championships and is the winningest team in EuroLeague history with 11 titles.
The matchup marks the first preseason NBA game in Madrid since 2016, when Dončić and Real Madrid hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder. In 1988, the Boston Celtics played two games in Madrid against the then Yugoslavian Men&rsquo;s National Team and Real Madrid.
Prior to the game in Madrid, the Mavericks will play two preseason games against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 5 and 7 as part of The NBA Abu Dhabi Games 2023.
&ldquo;Bringing the live NBA experience directly to our passionate international fans is an important part of our year-round efforts to grow basketball and the NBA around the world,&rdquo; said NBA deputy commissioner and chief operating officer Mark Tatum. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re excited for the Mavericks to play Real Madrid and look forward to engaging with fans from Spain and across Europe around this historic matchup.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Following our preseason games in Abu Dhabi, we are thrilled to play the game we love for the MFFLs in Madrid,&rdquo; said Mavericks CEO Cynt Marshall. &ldquo;Our team is lucky to have one of the greatest international NBA ambassadors in Luka, and we look forward to connecting with Real Madrid and their fans.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Facing an NBA team is always special, but on this occasion even more so, as it will give us the opportunity to once again enjoy a Real Madrid legend and NBA star like Luka Dončić, who proudly carries the name of our club and presumes of being a Madridista wherever he goes,&rdquo; said Real Madrid ambassador Felipe Reyes. &ldquo;It will be a great spectacle and a very exciting moment for all madridistas and basketball lovers.&rdquo;
Tickets for the game will go on general sale Aug. 31.&nbsp; Fans can check Real Madrid&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.realmadrid.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.realmadrid.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1693516418041000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1N6d_mVGbXuv9mwGvRYEfp">website</a> for more information. The game will air live in the U.S. on NBA TV and Bally Sports Southwest. Additional broadcast distribution details will be available at a later date.
There have been 16 NBA players from Spain, including 2023 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee Pau Gasol. NBA games have aired in Spain since the 1987-88 season, and the league opened its office in Madrid in 2007.&nbsp;
NBA games are currently available in Spain on NBA League Pass via the NBA App, including 39 weekend games during the 2023-24 season that will air in primetime in Europe as part of the league&rsquo;s &ldquo;NBA Saturdays and NBA Sundays&rdquo; initiative.

The Dallas Mavericks will play a preseason game against reigning EuroLeague champion Real Madrid at the WiZink Center in Madrid.

Dallas Mavericks, Real Madrid to play preseason game in Madrid

It's admittedly fun to ride the small-sample-sized wave of early NBA seasons.
We've already witnessed 58 individual 30-plus-point performances in eight days of action from dozens of different players. The Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers are tied with the Memphis Grizzlies atop the Western Conference standings. And early breakout games have dotted the league's landscape, making fans of all 30 teams (well...) hopeful for what could be on the horizon.
But while it's encouraged to enjoy success in the moment, as analysts, how do we temper expectations and forecast the future? Some players are bound to return to earth, while for others, this first week might truly be the start of something special.
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Here are five players who have caught fire so far, and whose environments make sustaining these heat waves a plausible reality:
LAURI MARKKANEN, UTAH JAZZ
We start with everyone's favorite "What the heck is happening right now?" team in the Jazz, who are 4-1 despite being a projected basement-dweller/Victor Wembanyama suitor/whatever you'd like to tactfully call a bad basketball team.
Markkanen is leading the charge in the box score with his 22.0-point, 8.8-rebound, 3.0-assist per-game averages. Two of those would be career highs (he averaged 9.0 rebounds per game in 2018-19), and his 64.2% two-point clip would be a career best by far. That's also despite him canning just 24.2% of his threes.
Markkanen turned heads at the end of the summer with his <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/6-players-who-stood-out-from-eurobasket-2022-lauri-markkanen-alperen-sengun-lorenzo-brown-sasha-vezenkov-dzanan-musa-simone-fontecchio" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EuroBasket onslaught for Finland</a>. We saw the 25-year-old in a primary scoring role during the tournament, and that's sort of translated to Utah. Markkanen's usage rate (22.6%) and drives per game (6.0) are his highest figures since 2018-19. He's making a stunning 68.4% of his shots when he drives to the basket &mdash; bound to recede, but definitely a positive sign when you look at the above footage.
And yet! He's also been used creatively without having to be individually creative, as highlighted by Mat Issa:
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Reason #1: Lauri Markkanen (cont.) And while he has made some strides as a self-generated scorer, he's doing a lot of his damage playing off of his teammates as a shooter, roller, and cutter. 71 of his 86 shot attempts (82.6%) have come off 2 dribbles or less. <a href="https://t.co/xrAUBCbGGm">pic.twitter.com/xrAUBCbGGm</a>
&mdash; Mat Issa (@matissa15) <a href="https://twitter.com/matissa15/status/1585651902473068544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Regardless of how the Jazz progress as a team, Markkanen is going to be a featured player barring any sort of trade. He's also an easy bet to return to form as a perimeter shooter. Markkanen currently sports a 29.2% clip on catch-and-shoot threes; he typically hovers around 35%.
There's no one standing in the way of Markkanen leading the Jazz in shot attempts, and he's shown signs that he can take on such a responsibility.
TREY MURPHY III, NEW ORLEANS PELICANS
A literally perfect, 22-point, 8-for-8 shooting effort from Murphy helped the Pelicans win a game against the Dallas Mavericks without Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Herb Jones. The second-year forward is shooting a lights-out 68.4% from long range and re-establishing himself as a premier young shooting talent in the league.&nbsp;
However, it's been his aggression attacking closeouts that has really helped Murphy propel his offensive game forward.
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We all know Trey Murphy is an amazing shooter. But him attacking closeouts like this is going to make him incredibly deadly <a href="https://t.co/AmJd9RiGfw">pic.twitter.com/AmJd9RiGfw</a>
&mdash; Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) <a href="https://twitter.com/FearTheBrown/status/1585139430259855360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 26, 2022</a></blockquote>

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<a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/trey-murphy-iii-wants-to-announce-presence-new-orleans-pelicans-zion-williamson-brandon-ingram" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Murphy explained to me this summer</a> that he's really worked on anticipating and absorbing contact. That showed up in NBA Summer League, and it's manifesting so far as you can see in the above clips. Murphy is only 3-for-8 on driving attempts so far, but that's already better than his abysmal 21.4% rate as a rookie. He's also been one of the most frequent transition finishers in the NBA, and is even averaging a league-best 1.92 points per possession in transition.
New Orleans hasn't gotten out and running too much, but they project as a team that can capitalize on fast breaks. Murphy is an improved at-rim finisher and can always leak out for threes. It makes him yet another unique weapon for the Pelicans' offense.
JAYLEN NOWELL, MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
Want to talk about a dark-horse candidate for Sixth Man of the Year? Nowell is putting up 16.2 points in just 21.8 minutes per game for the Timberwolves and has effectively filled Malik Beasley's spot in the rotation. The 23-year-old is knocking down just 32.1% of his threes, but he's a proven threat from distance who I expect to improve.
Mark Schindler has been all over the Jaylen Nowell breakout for practically the entire calendar year, so both deserve their flowers:
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Jaylen Nowell Hooper <a href="https://t.co/kIKFnyToFn">pic.twitter.com/kIKFnyToFn</a>
&mdash; Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) <a href="https://twitter.com/MG_Schindler/status/1584985123782811648?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 25, 2022</a></blockquote>

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The third-year guard is prolific in the short-mid-range areas like above; this year, he's made a ridiculous (and unsustainable) 62% of his total mid-range looks. But he's been trading some of those shots in and getting even closer to the basket. Per Cleaning the Glass, Nowell's short-mid-range shot frequency has dropped by 12%, while his at-rim rate has climbed by 13%. That's a great sign since he's a capable scorer in both zones.
Nowell's per-game scoring average is fourth among NBA players with multiple games off the bench. The three in front? Christian Wood (a probably eventual starter), Bennedict Mathurin (a rookie and probable eventual starter) and Keegan Murray (same boat as Mathurin). It's entirely plausible that by the end of the year, this three-level bucket-getter emerges as a leading contender for the Sixth Man of the Year award.
NICK RICHARDS, CHARLOTTE HORNETS
A third-year center and former second-round pick, Richards has grinded away as a reserve for a Hornets team desperately in need of stopgaps in the frontcourt. Through four contests, he's averaging 13.0 points and 7.8 rebounds per game on a crisp 71.4% field goal clip (all twos).
According to Second Spectrum, Richards has either grabbed an offensive board or tipped one to a teammate on two-thirds of his offensive rebound chances &mdash; tied for fourth-best in the NBA among high-volume rebounders.
Within that pristine field goal percentage, Richards is 8-for-9 in scoring chances as a roll man. Now, we're really digging into some small samples here. But he's shooting 78% at the rim in total, which lines up with 75% from last year, and some of the plays look promising. Nothing too crazy, but Richards has finished with soft touch and some power over two of the better interior defenders in the league in Clint Capela and Jakob Poeltl:
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Richards' success is the most extreme small-sample-size bet in this notebook. He just has barely seen an NBA floor, so even looking at past seasons gets sketchy. I'm optimistic for two reasons: Charlotte has an obvious hole he is filling at center, and the team has some elite guard playmakers in LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier who he can work off of.
DEVIN VASSELL, SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Like Markkanen and the Jazz, Vassell and the Spurs are unburdened by expectations, which hopefully gives them the freedom to experiement throughout the season. Fans of the 2020 No. 11 pick have waited for Vassell's glimpses of pull-up prowess and overall scoring to coalesce, and 2022-23 might be the year.
Vassell is putting up 19.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game while firing threes at a career-high volume (8.3 per game) and efficiency (39.4%). The long-range marksmanship has come and gone in waves, and yes, it's probably too early to assume Vassell has fully arrived as a pull-up powerhouse.
However, there's still a lot to love about his start &mdash; especially that assist number.
Vassell's 19.6% assist rate more than doubles either of his prior two seasons, while his 5.2% turnover rate is actually a career-low. There are 72 NBA players averaging more than 8 drives per game this season; Vassell's 15.9% assist rate on drives ranks ninth.
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He's not some highlight-reel passer, but Vassell displays some really impressive floor vision. He can enter a drive in attack mode and still have the wherewithal to monitor how the defense shifts and how his own teammates get open.
Vassell is off to a shaky start as a driving scorer &mdash; he's made just 28.6% of said shots &mdash; but he has a past history with better efficiency. I bank on that returning, and, coupled with his improving vision and enticing perimeter scoring, Vassell could really terrify opposing defenses as a young playmaking engine.
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THE OUTLIERS (a.k.a. other random interesting numbers I found in the void):
<ul>
<li>Bennedict Mathurin has been electric as a rookie for the Indiana Pacers, and if you're wondering why his start feels unusually great, that's because it is:</li>
</ul>
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Bennedict Mathurin is only the fifth NBA player since 1980 to score at least 72 points in his first three career games&mdash;and the first since 1995: Isiah Thomas Dominique Wilkins Michael Jordan Jerry Stackhouse Bennedict Mathurin
&mdash; Zach Kram (@zachkram) <a href="https://twitter.com/zachkram/status/1583998848946827265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 23, 2022</a></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>Synergy's Todd Whitehead has posted a ton of these starting lineup visualizations on his Twitter, and this one in particular caught my eye:</li>
</ul>
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17 teams in the league had 2 or 3 "homegrown" starters in their opening game last week. 6 teams had 4. 3 teams had 0. There are 8 players who made their NBA debut with the Lakers who are starting for somebody else this year, more than any other team. <a href="https://t.co/Kl9Qg0Oa0j">pic.twitter.com/Kl9Qg0Oa0j</a>
&mdash; Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) <a href="https://twitter.com/CrumpledJumper/status/1584621844522729472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2022</a></blockquote>

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<ul>
<li>This week's check-in on the Los Angeles Lakers (technically missing one game, but they shot 26.7% as a team, so I doubt this visual changes much):</li>
</ul>
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Dorktown: Los Angeles Lakers! <a href="https://t.co/c3JvICgyJm">pic.twitter.com/c3JvICgyJm</a>
&mdash; Secret Base (@secretbase) <a href="https://twitter.com/secretbase/status/1584584367283654662?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Lauri Markkanen, Devin Vassell and Nick Richards are among the players Ethan Fuller believes can sustain their early success.

NBA Stats Notebook: 5 players who can sustain their early breakouts

EuroBasket 2022 is in the books, and this year's tournament was another reminder that a well-oiled team machine can still outlast the brightest individual stars on the planet.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic instantly made their countries favorites to win gold, and even had some of the best supporting casts in the field. But the final four squads &mdash; France, Germany, Poland and Spain &mdash; had one NBA All-Star on their rosters combined. The bracket stage was a true display of just how much basketball talent is spread around the globe.
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These six particularly stood out with some remarkable performances over three weeks. No former NBA All-Stars were considered; they obviously were among the best of the best. The following players might be less heralded in the United States, but any basketball fan should appreciate the runs they put together at EuroBasket.
Lorenzo Brown, Spain
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Spain took home the gold medal against France behind 27 points from Juancho Hernangomez. His brother Willy led the team in per-game scoring across the whole tournament. But Spain does not get to gold without Brown, an NBA castoff who has carved his niche in Europe over the past several years.&nbsp;
The 32-year-old guard averaged 15.2 points and 7.6 assists per contest. He dropped 29 points in a massive semifinal win against Germany, then had 14 points and 11 assists in the title bout. His veteran experience is apparent, and Spain creatively used Brown to keep France on its toes by running him off of ball-screens and mixing in pick-and-roll possessions. Brown in turn knew just when and where his teammates would be when France rotated. The above passes are exquisite; the third clip is my personal favorite.
Simone Fontecchio, Italy
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For one last time in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroBasket?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroBasket</a> 2022: Pasta. Pizza. Fontecchio. 🇮🇹 21 PTS 5 REB 4/7 3FG% SIMONEFONTECCHIO gave a hard fight against France 💪 <a href="https://t.co/qT6FEkdMzm">pic.twitter.com/qT6FEkdMzm</a>
&mdash; FIBA (@FIBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/FIBA/status/1570104678653779968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 14, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Want to talk about an underrated offseason signing? The Utah Jazz added Fontecchio, a 6-foot-8-inch wing, on a multi-year contract this summer, and if Utah fans checked in on Italy, they saw Fontecchio lighting it up beyond the arc. The 26-year-old canned 45.1% of his 7.3 threes attempted per game and averaged 19.4 points across the tournament.
Fontecchio is simply an entertaining scorer. He can pull up from long range with all sorts of dribble and spin moves and still get into his sweet shooting stroke. He's a solid cutter and transition player, and while not a highlight-reel dunker, he has an underrated level of explosion. I really think Fontecchio's going to suprise fans next season if the Jazz give him extended minutes.
Lauri Markkanen, Finland
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Most U.S. fans probably picture Markkanen as your prototypical stretch forward. At EuroBasket, he was&nbsp;so&nbsp;much more. Markkanen was one of the tournament's most dominant players, putting up 27.9 points and 8.1 rebounds while shooting 61.5% from two-point range and 40.5% behind the arc.&nbsp;
Talk about emptying the bag &mdash; Markkanen was posting up, facing up, flying off cuts, initiating with drives, stepping back and finishing. He had a massive 43-point showcase against Croatia where he appeared blatantly unstoppable. Maybe a run like this encourages Utah to experiment more with Markkanen's usage stateside.
Dzanan Musa, Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Once a first-round pick to the Brooklyn Nets, Musa fell out of the NBA, but has settled in overseas. He averaged 21.4 points, 4.0 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game with his home country and really applied pressure as a driver. Musa frequently went at bigs in conservative coverages &mdash; including guys like Domantas Sabonis and Jonas Valanciunas &mdash; with his combination of quick-twitch handle and finishing touch.&nbsp;
Musa also made a noteworthy 45% of his triples. He's never had much of a three-point stroke up until last season in Liga ACB play, but it seems the swingman is really developing confidence. Musa is still just 23 and definitely has the ability to jump back into the NBA should teams pursue him.
Alperen Sengun, Turkey
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Turkey had a really fun run to the EuroBasket quarterfinals with the 20-year-old fueling the success. Sengun is on the smaller side of NBA centers, but against these opponents, he had more chances to physically dominate and go to work in the post. His speed on some of these spin moves is still incredible &mdash; just look at Hernangomez's reaction after this first bucket.
Sengun stymied teams with his post play and interior passing en route to 16.5 points per game. He's a secure cornerstone for the Houston Rockets at this point. Sure, it's fair to wonder how Sengun's skill set helps Houston once it reaches contender status. But there's no denying Sengun is amazing, regardless of his age, as a post scorer and passing big man.&nbsp;
Aleksandar Vezenkov, Bulgaria
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"Sasha" Vezenkov only played five EuroBasket contests after Bulgaria went 1-4 and missed out on the bracket stage. But he deserves a shoutout because he absolutely dominated his matchups. Vezenkov's box score line is bonkers: 27.0 points, 12.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists while shooting 56.6% on twos and 40.5% on nearly 8 threes per game.
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The perimeter scoring is frankly ridiculous. Vezenkov is more than a stretch forward or a movement shooter. At 6-foot-9, he's got a stable enough handle to threaten teams by putting the ball on the floor. At the same time, he's got this absurd, quick lefty shot, and can contort himself all sorts of ways without compromising his form.&nbsp;
The Sacramento Kings quietly acquired the rights to Vezenkov from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for the No. 49 pick in this summer's NBA Draft (which became Isaiah Mobley). The 26-year-old reportedly won't come to the U.S. this summer, as he looks to defend a Greek League title with Olympiacos Piraeus and back up his All-EuroLeague First Team selection. But if you're thinking of tuning into some European hoops, Vezenkov should be considered a must-watch talent.

Alperen Sengun, Lauri Markkanen and Dzanan Musa were among the brightest stars at EuroBasket 2022.

EuroBasket 2022: 6 players who stood out in the tournament

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) &mdash; Luka Doncic was asked Tuesday about whether he or Greece&rsquo;s Giannis Antetokounmpo had the better chance of setting a EuroBasket scoring record.
Doncic quickly picked Antetokounmpo.
A day later, he might have proved himself wrong.
Doncic scored 47 points &mdash; the second-most by anyone in the history of the European championships &mdash; and led Slovenia past France 88-82 on Wednesday for the top seed out of Group B going into this weekend&rsquo;s start of the knockout round.
&ldquo;Luka, obviously, is a fantastic player,&rdquo; said France center Rudy Gobert, one of the world&rsquo;s top defenders.
Doncic had 27 of Slovenia&rsquo;s first 36 points, made 15 of 23 shots from the field, plus had team highs of seven rebounds and five assists.
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LEGENDARY. Luka Doncic is simply out of this world! 🛸 Most points in a EuroBasket game in the last 65 years, and we are all witnesses. 📊 47 PTS | 7 REB | 5 AST | 4 STL<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroBasket?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroBasket</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BringTheNoise?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BringTheNoise</a> <a href="https://t.co/4FcDw7S3y6">pic.twitter.com/4FcDw7S3y6</a>
&mdash; #EuroBasket 2022 (@EuroBasket) <a href="https://twitter.com/EuroBasket/status/1567574177766309889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 7, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Eddy Terrace had 63 points for Belgium against Albania in 1957. That&rsquo;s the only EuroBasket performance in which someone had more points than Doncic did on Wednesday; the previous second-best effort was 46 by Greece&rsquo;s Nikos Galis against Sweden in 1983.
The most in this year&rsquo;s EuroBasket, entering Wednesday, was Antetokounmpo scoring 41 on Ukraine.
Goran Dragic broke a tie with a layup with 1:20 left that put Slovenia (4-1) ahead for good. It was a measure of payback for Slovenia, which lost to France in the Olympic semifinals at the Tokyo Games last summer.
&ldquo;Luka had a great night,&rdquo; Slovenia coach Aleksander Sekulic said. &ldquo;He spoils us so much. We think this is normal. This is not normal.&rdquo;
Dragic had 14 for Slovenia. Gobert had 19 for France (3-2), which got 15 from Evan Fournier, 13 from Amath M&rsquo;Baye, 11 from Elie Okobo and a 10-point, 10-rebound effort from Thomas Heurtel.
Wednesday started the final round of group play. There are four groups with six teams in each, and the top four clubs in each group &mdash; 16 teams in all &mdash; move on to Berlin for the knockout phase that starts Saturday.
GROUP B
LITHUANIA 87, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 70
Lithuania is going to the knockout stage of EuroBasket.
Marius Grigonis scored 16 points, Jonas Valanciunas finished with 13 points and 15 rebounds, and Lithuania topped Bosnia and Herzegovina &mdash; a winner-take-all game in terms of which club would move out of Group B and into the round of 16.
Arnas Butkevicius and Ignas Brazdeikis each scored 13 points, and Domantas Sabonis added 12 for Lithuania, which survived a second consecutive must-win game.
Dzanan Musa led all scorers with 22 points for Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-3), while Jusuf Nurkic added 15.
A 30-10 run spanning the second and third quarters was the key for Lithuania (2-3). The game was tied at 32 before the spurt gave Lithuania a 62-42 lead early in the third quarter.
GROUP A
SPAIN 72, TURKEY 69
At Tbilisi, Georgia, Lorenzo Brown&rsquo;s jumper with 2:11 left put Spain (4-1) ahead to stay in its group-clinching win over Turkey (3-2).
Willy Hernangomez led Spain with 15 points, and Brown finished with 11. Spain will meet Lithuania in the round of 16 this weekend.
Cedi Osman scored 20 for Turkey, while Furkan Korkmaz finished with 16 and Alperen Sengun added 14. Turkey will play in the knockout round as well.
BELGIUM 89, BULGARIA 80
Belgium (3-2) ensured it would reach the group stage, with Retin Obasohan scoring 25 points and Manu Lecomte adding 20.
Maxime De Zeeuw scored 13 for Belgium.
Aleksandar Vezenkov had 26 points and 13 rebounds and Dee Bost scored 18 for Bulgaria (1-4), which was eliminated.
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THURSDAY&rsquo;S SCHEDULE
First-round play ends in Groups C and D, as the 60-game group stage comes to an end.
Group C: Croatia (2-2) vs. Ukraine (3-1), Estonia (1-3) vs. Greece (4-0), Britain (0-4) vs. Italy (2-2). Croatia, Ukraine, Greece and Italy are all advancing to Berlin and the knockout stage. Greece could be one of two teams &mdash; Serbia is the other &mdash; to have a chance to get through group play unbeaten.
Group D: Israel (2-2) vs. Czech Republic (1-3), Serbia (4-0) vs. Poland (3-1), Finland (2-2) vs. Netherlands (0-4). The Israel-Czech Republic winner goes to Berlin, the Serbia-Poland winner will win the group (both already have clinched knockout round spots) and Finland is also locked into the knockout round.
There are no games Friday.

Doncic scored 47 points — the second-most by anyone in the history of the European championships — and led Slovenia past France.

Luka Doncic goes wild, scores 47 to lead Slovenia past France

MILAN (AP) &mdash; The stars showed up at EuroBasket on Tuesday in a big way.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 41 points in 27 minutes for Greece, Luka Doncic had 36 points for Slovenia and two-time reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic scored 29 points for Serbia &mdash; three of the world&rsquo;s best players all leading their teams to big group-stage wins at the European championships.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Ain&rsquo;t nothing but a little Luka Magic 🪄 36 PTS 10 REB 4 AST<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroBasket?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroBasket</a><a href="https://t.co/hIo3xZOABm">pic.twitter.com/hIo3xZOABm</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1567255650132004865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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There&rsquo;s one more group-stage game left for each to play, and then a trip to Berlin awaits since Greece, Slovenia and Serbia have all clinched spots in the 16-team knockout round that begins Saturday.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Nikola Jokic had himself a night at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroBasket?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroBasket</a>. 🃏👀 29 PTS, 11 REB, 5 AST<a href="https://t.co/yqgLLMI2AS">pic.twitter.com/yqgLLMI2AS</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1567261660729032706?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Antetokounmpo&rsquo;s point total was the most in a EuroBasket game since Dirk Nowitzki had 43 for Germany in 2001. And when he heard that stat, all Antetokounmpo did was nod.
&ldquo;I try not to rate my performance,&rdquo; Antetokounmpo said. &ldquo;I just try to go out there and have fun as much as possible, try to focus as much as I can on what I can control, try to bring energy any way possible. ... But I&rsquo;ll say this: I think this is one of the years where I feel very, very excited to go out there on the court and play with my teammates.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Giannis went OFF today in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/EuroBasket?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#EuroBasket</a>. 41 PTS 9 REB 72% FGM On fire. 🔥<a href="https://t.co/XRF620yKBK">pic.twitter.com/XRF620yKBK</a>
&mdash; NBA (@NBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1567208097826963458?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 6, 2022</a></blockquote>

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As Antetokounmpo did, Doncic also deflected credit after the game. Told that Germany&rsquo;s postgame reaction was &ldquo;Luka Doncic happened,&rdquo; Doncic replied by saying &ldquo;Slovenia happened.&rdquo;
&ldquo;The whole team was ready,&rdquo; Doncic said. &ldquo;Everybody who stepped on the court was fighting, whether they played one minute or 30. I&rsquo;m really proud of this team.&rdquo;
Doncic was asked after the game if he or Antetokounmpo was in a better position to break the EuroBasket single-game scoring record.
Doncic didn&rsquo;t hesitate with his answer: He picked Antetokounmpo.
&ldquo;I would bet on Giannis,&rdquo; Doncic said. &ldquo;Why? Because he&rsquo;s Giannis Antetokounmpo.&rdquo;
GROUP C
GREECE 99, UKRAINE 79
At Milan, Antetokounmpo simply overpowered Ukraine and ensured that Greece would finish atop its group.
Antetokounmpo &mdash; who got Monday off to rest &mdash; had his 41 points and nine rebounds in just 27 minutes to lead Greece (4-0).
He was 13 for 18 from the floor, 15 for 18 from the foul line.
&ldquo;It was very easy to prepare the team because it is absolutely clear what Greece does when Giannis is out there,&rdquo; Ukraine coach Ainars Bagatskis said. &ldquo;They play really aggressive basketball. And if you don&rsquo;t put against them the same aggressiveness, even higher aggressiveness, then you have big problems.&rdquo;
Nick Calathes and Tyler Dorsey had 13 apiece for Greece.
Issuf Sanon and Svi Mykhailiuk each scored 16 for Ukraine (3-1), while Alex Len and Illya Sydorov added 10 apiece. Ukraine led by seven at the half, before Greece won the third quarter 32-11.
ESTONIA 94, GREAT BRITAIN 62
Henri Drell scored 20 points, Siim-Sander Vene added 18 and Estonia had no trouble on the way to its first win of the tournament.
Maik-Kalev Kotsar scored 15, Kristjan Kitsing added 14 and Janari Joesaar finished with 11 for Estonia (1-3).
Myles Hesson scored 14 for Great Britain (0-4), with Carl Wheatie and Patrick Whelan each scoring 12.
ITALY 81, CROATIA 76
Simone Fontecchio and Nicolo Melli each scored 19 points to lead Italy (2-2).
Bojan Bogdanovic led Croatia (2-2) with 27 points, while Ivica Zubac scored 13 and Dario Saric added 10.
Both teams are headed to the knockout round.
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GROUP B
SLOVENIA 88, GERMANY 80
At Cologne, Germany, Doncic&rsquo;s 36 points came with him making 14 of 25 shots. He also had 10 rebounds for Slovenia (3-1).
Goran Dragic scored 18 points and Mike Tobey added 10 for Slovenia.
&ldquo;We showed what we are made of,&rdquo; Dragic said.
Dennis Schroder scored 19 points, Andreas Obst had 14 and Maodo Lo added 13 for Germany (3-1).
LITHUANIA 87, HUNGARY 64
Lithuanian basketball is known for a lot of things, including passionate fans.
They go everywhere to cheer for their national team. And Tuesday, they even cheered for France &mdash; for good reason.
Lithuania topped Hungary and that, combined with France&rsquo;s win over Bosnia and Herzegovina, means the last qualifying spot out of Group B is still unclaimed. It&rsquo;ll be decided Wednesday when Lithuania plays Bosnia and Herzegovina, the winner moving on to Berlin and a round-of-16 game, the loser heading home eliminated.
&ldquo;Lithuanian fans are the best,&rdquo; France guard Evan Fournier said.
If France had lost Tuesday, Lithuania would have been eliminated. Instead, those Lithuanian fans serenaded the French with cries of &ldquo;Merci!&rdquo; for keeping their national team&rsquo;s hopes alive.
&ldquo;It feels amazing,&rdquo; Lithuania forward Domatas Sabonis said. &ldquo;They travel to every championship to support us. It&rsquo;s sad we couldn&rsquo;t give them a win over the weekend, but we&rsquo;re glad we could give them one today and the goal is to give them another one tomorrow.&rdquo;
Jonas Valanciunas scored 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting and Sabonis added 19 for Lithuania (1-3).
Marius Grigonis had 15 points and Rokas Jokubaitis added 10 for Lithuania. Zoltan Perl scored 16 for Hungary (0-4), while David Vojvoda and Rosco Allen each finished with 10.
FRANCE 81, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 68
Thomas Heurtel&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 5:49 left put France ahead to stay and started a game-ending 22-7 run for the winners, who were already assured of a spot in the round of 16.
Guerschon Yabusele scored 15 for France (3-1), while Heurtel and Fournier each had 14 and Rudy Gobert posted an 11-point, 12-rebound performance.
Jusuf Nurkic, Miralem Halilovic and Dzanan Musa all had 14 for Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-2), while John Roberson had 13 and Edin Atic finished with 10.
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GROUP A
TURKEY 78, BELGIUM 63
At Tbilisi, Georgia, Alperen Sengun scored 24 points, Furkan Korkmaz had 16 and Turkey (3-1) remained tied atop Group A.
Ercan Osmani added 12 for Turkey.
Haris Bratanovic scored 15 for Belgium (2-2) and Hans Vanwijn scored 11.
SPAIN 82, MONTENEGRO 65
Spain (3-1) clinched its berth in the round of 16, with Dario Brizuela leading the way with 18 points.
Willy Hernangomez scored 14 for Spain, while Jaime Pradilla and Lorenzo Brown added 12 apiece.
Vladimir Mihailovic scored 18 for Montenegro (2-2), which got 11 from Marko Simonovic and 10 from Kendrick Perry.
BULGARIA 92, GEORGIA 80
Dee Bost had 33 points and 12 assists, Aleksandar Vezenkov finished with 28 points and 14 rebounds, and Bulgaria kept its hopes alive.
Pavlin Ivanov scored 17 for Bulgaria (1-3).
Goga Bitadze scored 21 for Georgia (1-3), while Thaddus McFadden had 19, Alexander Mamukelashvili scored 13, and Giorgi Shermadini and Duda Sanadze scored 10 apiece.
GROUP D
SERBIA 89, ISRAEL 78
At Prague, Jokic was 11 of 13 from the floor and also grabbed 11 rebounds for Serbia (4-0), while Vasilije Micic added 19.
Nikola Kalinic and Ognjen Jaramaz each scored 10 for Serbia.
Yam Madar scored 20 for Israel (2-2), while Deni Avdija had 14 and Roman Sorkin added 11.
POLAND 75, NETHERLANDS 69
Poland was down by 13 in the third quarter before closing the game on a 39-20 run to tune up for its knockout-stage appearance.
Michal Sokolowski scored 24 for Poland (3-1), which got 16 from Aleksander Balcerowski and 10 from Jakub Garbacz.
Charlon Kloof led the Netherlands (0-4) with 26, and Yannick Franke scored 13.
FINLAND 98, CZECH REPUBLIC 88
Lauri Markkanen continued his strong tournament with 34 points and 10 rebounds, and Finland clinched its berth in the round of 16.
Sasu Salin scored 23 and Petteri Koponen added 14 for Finland, with Elias Valtonen finishing with 11.
Vojtech Hruban scored 22 for the Czech Republic, with Jan Vesely adding 15 and Patrik Auda and Jaromir Bohacik scoring 13 apiece. The Czechs play Israel on Thursday and, according to FIBA, could reach the knockout stage with a win.
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WEDNESDAY&rsquo;S SCHEDULE
First-round play in Groups A and B concludes, with Groups C and D getting the day off before they finish their round-robins on Thursday. Friday is an off day and the knockout round in Berlin starts Saturday.
Group A: Turkey (3-1) vs. Spain (3-1), Bulgaria (1-3) vs. Belgium (2-2), Georgia (1-3) vs. Montenegro (2-2). The Turkey-Spain winner will win the group. Bulgaria and Georgia are in must-win scenarios.
Group B: Lithuania (1-3) vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-2), France (3-1) vs. Slovenia (3-1), Hungary (0-4) vs. Germany (3-1). France, Slovenia (which wins the group with a victory) and Germany have already qualified, Hungary is eliminated and the Lithuania-Bosnia game is the one that matters most.

Antetokounmpo scored 41 points in 27 minutes for Greece, Doncic had 36 points for Slovenia and reigning MVP Nikola Jokic scored 29 points for Serbia.

Stars shine bright: Giannis, Luka, Jokic lead at EuroBasket

FIBA EuroBasket is making a triumphant comeback this week after five years away from competition. Per ESPN, that's the <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/34457762/eurobasket-2022-scores-schedules-teams-news-updates" target="_blank" rel="noopener">longest gap in the tournament since World War II</a>, so EuroBasket 2022 should turn out to be a remarkable celebration of basketball's growth across Europe.
A&nbsp;lot has changed in five years. Luka Doncic was the "chosen one" of European hoops in 2017 as an 18-year-old suiting up for Slovenia, Giannis Antetokounmpo had just won Most Improved Player with the Milwaukee Bucks and earned his first NBA All-Star appearance, and Nikola Jokic had yet to clear 30 minutes per game in an NBA season.
Today, the three international stars are among the faces of basketball in the NBA and around the world, and the trio will compete in EuroBasket 2022. That's just the tip of the iceberg as far as the immese talent slated to participate. We've already gotten a peek of what the action could look like via the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers that have taken place over the past week.
EuroBasket features 24 teams in four groups, with action beginning on Thursday and culminating in a gold-medal showdown on Sept. 18. Here's a rundown of the must-see NBA players (as of last season), international stars and top prospects (under age 23) in each group.
(Note: If a player is listed as "questionable," it is because their playing status is uncertain. Not all EuroBasket rosters have been finalized, so several countries' teams may look slightly different. <a href="https://www.fiba.basketball/eurobasket/2022/news/roster-tracker-fiba-eurobasket-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Here is a full roster tracker</a>.)
GROUP A: SPAIN, TURKEY, MONTENEGRO, GEORGIA, BELGIUM, BULGARIA
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Alperen Sengun against Serbia: 17 PTS | 13 REB | 2 AST | 2 BLK | 61 TS% Spearheaded the Turkey comeback in the third quarter 🔥<a href="https://t.co/faBFt2SQLe">pic.twitter.com/faBFt2SQLe</a>
&mdash; Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) <a href="https://twitter.com/JTGatlin/status/1563966082322468869?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 28, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Top NBA Players: Juan Hernangomez (Spain), Willy Hernangomez (Spain), Furkan Korkmaz (Turkey), Cedi Osman (Turkey), Goga Bitadze (Georgia), Sandro Mamukelashvili (Georgia)
Top International Players: Rudy Fernandez (Spain), Lorenzo Brown (Spain), Shane Larkin (Turkey), Bojan Dubljevic (Montenegro), Retin Obasohan (Belgium), Sasha Vezenkov (Bulgaria)
Notable Prospects: Usman Garuba (Spain), Vrenz Bleijenbergh (Belgium), Alperen Sengun (Turkey), Marko Simonovic (Montenegro)
Spain and Turkey might not have quite the Tier 1 star power of some other countries, but both squads are fun and deep. Fernandez and Brown are stalwarts who have starred on their respective European teams for years. Then for Turkey, Osman and Korkmaz are NBA rotation players boosted by an electric point guard in Larkin.
We'll hopefully get to see the pair of Houston Rockets sophomore talents as well. Sengun impressed with his flashes last season and has already created highlights with Turkey over the summer. Garuba was quieter as a rookie, but has experience on a large Spanish stage with his time playing for Real Madrid.&nbsp;
GROUP B: BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, FRANCE, GERMANY, HUNGARY, LITHUANIA, SLOVENIA
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Luka Doncic drops 25 PTS, 11 REB, 8 AST in win over Estonian National team 🔥😭<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MFFL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MFFL</a> <a href="https://t.co/4khnb7BEr3">pic.twitter.com/4khnb7BEr3</a>
&mdash; MFFL NATION (@NationMffl) <a href="https://twitter.com/NationMffl/status/1562897679155204098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Top NBA Players: Jusuf Nurkic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Evan Fournier (France), Rudy Gobert (France), Timoth&eacute; Luwawu-Cabarrot (France), Daniel Theis (Germany), Dennis Schr&ouml;der (Germany), Domantas Sabonis (Lithuania), Jonas Valanciunas (Lithuania), Ignas Brazdeikis (Lithuania), Luka Doncic (Slovenia), Goran Dragic (Slovenia), Vlatko Cancar (Slovenia)
Top International Players:&nbsp;Dzanan Musa (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Elie Okobo (France), Guerschon Yabusele (France), Thomas Huertel (France), Vincent Poirier (France)
Notable Prospects:&nbsp;Th&eacute;o Maledon (France), Franz Wagner (Germany), Rokas Jokubaitis (Lithuania), Ziga Samar (Slovenia)
Yeah, this group is absolutely loaded. Five of the six rosters could potentially boast multiple players with 2021-22 NBA experience. Slovenia, led by Doncic and Dragic, is considered a favorite to win EuroBasket. But France has a loaded roster (though no Victor Wembanyama), too. They'll be worth checking out additonally because Okobo has been balling in Europe since leaving the NBA.
New York Knicks fans might want to circle Lithuania as the team to watch. They'll receive a nostalgia injection in the forms of Brazdeikis and Mindaugas Kuzminskas, and they'll get a glimpse of the future with Jokubaitis, the team's 2021 draft-and-stash guard. Franz Wagner is one of the best young talents in EuroBasket too, making Germany a team to monitor.
GROUP C: CROATIA, ESTONIA, GREAT BRITAIN, GREECE, ITALY, UKRAINE
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Giannis Antetokounmpo <a href="https://twitter.com/Giannis_An34?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Giannis_An34</a> dropped 26pts 7rebs in the <a href="https://twitter.com/FIBAWC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@fibawc</a> Qualifiers win for Greece. Watch all the games of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FIBAWC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FIBAWC</a> Qualifiers on Courtside 1891 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WinForAll?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WinForAll</a> <a href="https://t.co/t7JNIYvGgG">pic.twitter.com/t7JNIYvGgG</a>
&mdash; Swish Cultures (@swishcultures_) <a href="https://twitter.com/swishcultures_/status/1564222344067010561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Top NBA Players:&nbsp;Bojan Bogdanovic (Croatia), Dario Saric (Croatia), Ivica Zubac (Croatia),&nbsp;Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Thanasis Antetokounmpo (Greece), Tyler Dorsey (Greece), Simone Fontecchio (Italy), Alex Len (Ukraine), Svi Mykhailiuk (Ukraine)
Top International Players: Mario Hezonja (Croatia), Sacha Killeya-Jones (Great Britain, questionable),&nbsp;Nick Calathes (Greece), Georgios Papagiannis (Greece, questionable), Kostas Papanikalou (Greece), Kostas Sloukas (Greece, questionable), Nicolo Melli (Italy)
Notable Prospects:&nbsp;Karlo Matkovic (Croatia), Roko Prkacin (Croatia),&nbsp;Issuf Sanon (Ukraine), Nico Mannion (Italy)
Three of the Antetokounbros (the above two, plus Kostas, who is questionable at this time) could assemble for their home country. Greece also has a handful of international stars who might play; their roster has yet to be finalized. Giannis Antetokounmpo dropped 40 points in a World Cup Qualifiers loss against Nikola Jokic and Serbia, so it's safe to say he's firing on all cylinders.
Croatia, however, might be my pick for most intriguing team in the tournament. They have a trio of NBA players, plus a former top-five pick in Mario Hezonja. Prkacin has been on NBA Draft radars for several years now, and Matkovic just went No. 52 overall in the 2022 Draft to the New Orleans Pelicans. This is a fun mix of talent at different stages and platforms.
GROUP D: CZECH REPUBLIC, FINLAND, ISRAEL, NETHERLANDS, POLAND, SERBIA
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
They call him the MVP for a reason 🃏 Deadly in so many ways, Nikola Jokic was in top form for Serbia during World Cup Qualifying 😤<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FIBAWC?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FIBAWC</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WinForSrbija?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WinForSrbija</a> 🇷🇸 <a href="https://t.co/1ZqvDPLQsi">pic.twitter.com/1ZqvDPLQsi</a>
&mdash; FIBA (@FIBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/FIBA/status/1564286832510226436?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 29, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Top NBA Players:&nbsp;Vit Krejci (Czech Republic), Tomas Satoransky (Czech Republic, questionable), Lauri Markkanen (Finland), Nikola Jokic (Serbia), Nemanja Bjelica (Serbia, questionable),&nbsp;
Top International Players: Jan Vesely (Czech Republic), Vasilije Micic (Serbia, questionable), Nikola Milutinov (Serbia)
Notable Prospects: Deni Avdija (Israel), Yam Madar (Israel), Balsa Koprivica (Serbia, questionable)
Nikola Jokic instantly makes Serbia a frontrunner for the gold, but the nation could have several veterans backing him up in a potential deep run. Micic in particular should be on NBA fans' radars as a player who could immediately come over and produce in the league. The 28-year-old guard won two EuroLeague titles and was named MVP in 2021. Oklahoma City currently owns his draft rights, though he was mentioned frequently in offseason trade rumors.&nbsp;
Israel has a pair of notable young talents leading the way. Deni Avdija took a legitimate step forward in his second year with the Washington Wizards. Madar, meanwhile, has been playing overseas as a draft-and-stash prospect selected by the Boston Celtics in 2020.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic lead a stellar group of competitors in EuroBasket 2022.

FIBA EuroBasket 2022: Top teams, players and prospects to watch

Nekias Duncan previews the Central Division's five teams (the Bulls, Cavs, Pistons, Pacers and Bucks) ahead of the 2020-21 NBA season.

2020-21 NBA Season Preview: Central Division

Trade season is finally here! With the moratorium being officially lifted at noon this past Monday, teams are officially allowed to swap players and picks. We had our first agreement on Sunday, with the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder agreeing to a deal around Sixth Man of the Year candidate Dennis Schroder. We&rsquo;ve seen even bigger deals go down, headlined by the Bucks landing <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-trade-grade-milwaukee-bucks-jrue-holiday-bogdan-bogdanovic-giannis-antetokounmpo-nekias-deal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jrue Holiday and Bogdan Bogdanovic</a> in a late-night shopping spree.&nbsp;
There was a minor swap early Monday between the Detroit Pistons and Brooklyn Nets that won&rsquo;t get a ton of attention. The Pistons sent guard Bruce Brown to the Nets for forward Dzanan Musa and a 2021 second-round pick.
There were predictably sarcastic quips in the comments of the #WojBomb.&nbsp;
&ldquo;League shattering.&rdquo;
&ldquo;The league will never be the same.&rdquo;
&ldquo;No need for the [James] Harden trade. Nets got their guy.&rdquo;
Sure, this wasn&rsquo;t the biggest transaction on the planet. Musa appeared in 40 games last year, while averaging a shade under five points per contest; Brown was able to expand himself a bit for a Pistons team stuck in the proverbial mud. But as the Miami Heat showed last year, you can&rsquo;t build a contender -- a preseason favorite or relative surprise -- without winning moves on the margins. The Nets&rsquo; acquisition of Brown can be an example of just that.&nbsp;
What Brown Brings on Defense 
Brown&rsquo;s calling card comes on the non-glamour side of the ball. At 6-foot-4 with a 6-foot-9 wingspan, Brown has the size and length to swallow up smaller guards, while also punching above his weight in a pinch.&nbsp;
He mirrors well in isolation, allowing him to cut off easy driving lanes and contest pull-up attempts. You can see it here against Devin Booker:
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/brown-iso-d-1.gif" alt="" width="620" height="AUTO" />
And here against the smaller, shiftier CJ McCollum:
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/brown-iso-d-2.gif" alt="" width="620" height="AUTO" />
Brown is still growing as a pick-and-roll defender. Effort isn&rsquo;t an issue; he fights relatively hard over screens, and can really get into the body of defenders when he takes good angles.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/brown-vs-kyrie.gif" alt="" width="620" height="AUTO" />
Brown isn&rsquo;t the quickest guard, though. He can get a little lost against speedsters. Like most young guards in the league, navigating screen angles and staying attached can be pretty difficult for him. He profiles more like a guy that can defend 2s and 3s a little better than 1s right now. It does help that he plays much bigger than he is. When he is caught behind the play, he can comfortably switch onto bigger players and make them work for looks.
<img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="https://basketballnews-media.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/images/story/body/brown-switch-vs-tristan.gif" alt="" width="620" height="AUTO" />
Here, Brown attempts to ICE this pick-and-roll, sending Darius Garland down the sideline. Garland counters by snaking around the screen to force the switch, though he bobbles the handle. Brown finds himself matched up with Tristain Thompson -- not Hakeem Olajuwon, but a strong dude that can toss in a jump hook from time-to-time. Thompson isn&rsquo;t able to gain any real traction before the help arrives, and Brown further complicates matters by swiping at the ball without fouling, then finishing the possession with a strong contest.&nbsp;
Brown was the Pistons&rsquo; best defender last season, an important distinction, but one that shouldn&rsquo;t be used to inflate his value. He&rsquo;s a good, not great defender at this stage. He is a rather versatile weapon with visible room for improvement. He fills a role now and won&rsquo;t cost much to do so.
What Brown Brings on Offense 
The silver lining for young players on bad teams is that, if they&rsquo;re intriguing enough to their organization, they have room to stretch themselves in ways that aren&rsquo;t possible on better teams. As it relates to Brown, his experimenting at point guard was a mixed bag, but one that bodes well for his development moving forward.
Brown can actually do stuff with the ball in his hands. He&rsquo;s patient in the pick-and-roll, mostly using his penchant for contact to generate paint touches and force rotations. But there is also craft present, a necessary ability for secondary creation upside.
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Elfrid Payton attempts to ICE the potential ball screen. Brown swims through and attacks baseline, drawing the rotation from Taj Gibson, which then calls for Julius Randle to pick up John Henson on the roll. With Randle picking up Henson, that leaves RJ Barrett to split the difference -- play between the wing and the corner -- on the weak side. Barrett slides over to take away the corner pass. Brown reads all of that and flips a jump-pass to Tony Snell for an open triple.
Brown can make passes like that, or he can fit in dimes to the big. What he&rsquo;s missing is the ability to convert these opportunities for himself. Per Synergy, Brown made just 39 percent of his shots out of pick-and-roll last season. His pull-up jumper is non-existent at this stage, and he isn&rsquo;t particularly finishing against set defenses at this stage.
Him having enough juice to operate as a connector is good enough in lineups that feature any of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Spencer Dinwiddie, or Caris LeVert -- with the obvious caveat that the latter two are even on the roster when the season starts.
With better ball-handlers available, Brown will likely settle into a primary spot-up role. He&rsquo;s an iffy shooter overall, but did knock down a shade under 42 percent of his corner threes last year.&nbsp;
The 3-and-D archetype is a valuable one, especially alongside stars. If the jumper stabilizes, Brown will be a pretty important role player for the Nets this season. Combine that with his budding ball skills, and the Nets could have a real steal on their hands. 
They&rsquo;ll have to pay him next offseason, but turning Musa and a second-round pick into a two-way talent entering the prime of his career is a bet you make every time.

Nekias Duncan breaks down the Nets' deal to land Bruce Brown in Brooklyn and how it'll benefit the team.

Examining Bruce Brown's fit with the Brooklyn Nets

The Detroit Pistons are trading guard Bruce Brown Jr. to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for Nets wing Dzanan Musa and a 2021 second round draft pick.&nbsp;
Source: <a href="https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1328336615438229504" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Adrian Wojnarowski via Twitter</a>
ANALYSIS: This is Detroit's first trade under new general manager Troy Weaver. The two franchises swap players from the 2018 NBA Draft, with the Pistons acquiring the no. 29 pick in Musa and the Nets getting the 42nd pick in Brown.
As a Piston, Brown averaged 8.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game last season while serving as a quality defender. Musa saw less playing time with Brooklyn, appearing in 49 games across two seasons, but is still just 21 years old. Detroit will also receive the Nets' 2021 second round pick via the Toronto Raptors.
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The Nets will send Dzanan Musa and a second round pick to Detroit in return.

Dzanan