Cavaliers

France sent a message on its way to grabbing a spot in the EuroBasket championship game and a showdown with Spain.
Guerschon Yabusele scored 22 points, and France rolled past Poland 95-54 in the semifinals of the European championships on Friday.
&ldquo;We just played our basketball,&rdquo; Yabusele said. &ldquo;We were really good on defense and we were really aggressive. We made everything hard for them.&rdquo;
The 41-point margin was the largest ever in a EuroBasket medal-round game played under the current tournament format, one more than 40-point wins posted by Croatia over Greece in the 1993 bronze-medal game and by the Soviet Union over Poland in the 1967 semifinals.
Elle Okobo and Evan Fournier each had 10 points in a rare easy one for France, which had outscored opponents by a total of 11 points in its first seven games of the tournament &mdash;&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-france-poland-italy-71f01c5c88ed542aa26ad87ce9151f9b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plus won each of its last two contests in overtime,</a>&nbsp;benefitting in both from missed free throws in the final moments by Turkey and Italy.
"We started the game with will and determination,&rdquo; France coach Vincent Collet said. &ldquo;That is what made the difference.&rdquo;
Next up for France: Spain, which defeated host Germany 96-91 in Friday&rsquo;s other semifinal. The gold- and bronze-medal games are Sunday.
It&rsquo;ll mark the fifth time in the last six EuroBaskets that either Spain or France has won gold; the exception was 2017, when Slovenia prevailed. It&rsquo;ll also be a rematch of the 2011 EuroBasket final, where Spain topped France.
&ldquo;We worked really hard to put ourselves in this position,&rdquo; said France center Rudy Gobert, who had six rebounds and three blocks. &ldquo;Now we&rsquo;ve got one more game to go. When we started preparations, the goal was to win the gold medal and now we&rsquo;re in position to make it happen. So, one more game.&rdquo;
Playing for gold represents the latest big chance for France, which captured its last major crown by winning EuroBasket in 2013. Since then, the French have won two bronzes at the World Cup (2014, 2019), a bronze at EuroBasket (2015) and silver at the delayed Tokyo Olympics that were contested in the summer of 2021.
Every stat Friday showed France&rsquo;s dominance. It shot 62%, compared with 32% for Poland. France held a 40-21 edge in rebounding, a 22-9 edge in points off turnovers and a 40-16 advantage from points in the paint.
&ldquo;Like a lot of games in this tournament, it could go south, it could go north,&rdquo; Poland coach Igor Milicic said. &ldquo;This game went south.&rdquo;
A.J. Slaughter and Michal Michalak led Poland &mdash; which made the semifinals by upsetting defending champion Slovenia 90-87 on Wednesday &mdash; with nine points apiece. It was Poland&rsquo;s third loss of the tournament, all coming in blowouts. The others were a 30-point defeat to Finland and a 29-point loss to Serbia in the group stage.
&ldquo;We tip our hats off to France,&rdquo; said Slaughter, a Kentucky-born guard who helped Western Kentucky to upset wins as a No. 12 seed in both the 2008 and 2009 NCAA tournaments. &ldquo;They played a really good game tonight. ... But we still have our heads high. We still have a medal game on Sunday. We&rsquo;ll come back, play with pride and see if we can leave here with a medal.&rdquo;
SPAIN 96, GERMANY 91
Lorenzo Brown scored 29 points, and Spain used a 13-0 run in the fourth quarter to rally past host Germany in the second semifinal.
Germany led by 10 points late in the third quarter, before Spain took over. Juancho Hernangomez scored seven of his 13 points in the game-deciding run, one where Spain turned a 77-70 deficit into an 83-77 lead with 4:04 remaining.
&ldquo;I cannot find the words to congratulate my players,&rdquo; Spain coach Sergio Scariolo said. &ldquo;Probably this medal is the least expected, but to me, the most satisfactory. Built upon hard work, togetherness, team basketball, defensive effort, desire to overcome our limits ... and guts in the fourth quarter.&rdquo;
It was Spain&rsquo;s fifth consecutive win at the tournament, the last four of them coming by 10 points or less.
&ldquo;When you bring intensity to the game, anything can happen,&rdquo; said Usman Garuba, who had a team-high seven assists for Spain.
And it was Brown&rsquo;s highest-scoring game of the tournament, plus more than doubled his per-game average entering Friday; he was averaging 13.4 points in Spain&rsquo;s first seven games.
Dennis Schroder led all scorers with 30 points for Germany, but managed only two points in the fourth quarter. Franz Wagner and Andreas Obst each scored 15 for Germany, while Daniel Theis added 10.
&ldquo;The energy was amazing out there,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think that crowd came to play tonight. Felt amazing from the jump. I felt like our guys felt amazing from the jump as well. Schroder came out, playing unbelievable, finished the game unbelievable as well. But it just took a lot of guts from our end.&rdquo;
Germany coach Gordie Herbert said losing momentum early in the fourth quarter was key.
&ldquo;We had a tough five, six minutes,&rdquo; Herbert said.
EuroBasket ends Sunday, and from there, Schroder is headed to Los Angeles. The agency that represents him, Priority Sports, said Friday that Schroder &mdash; who has averaged 21.6 points and 7.3 assists per game at EuroBasket &mdash; agreed on a $2.6 million contract with the Lakers for the coming season.

France sent a message on its way to grabbing a spot in the EuroBasket championship game and a showdown with Spain.

France tops Poland, Spain beats Germany in EuroBasket semis

The <a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/darko-milicic-thinks-jokic-is-a-target-because-he-is-a-foreign-player-dominating-the-nba/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-stringify-link="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/giannis-antetokounmpo-shares-why-he-doesnt-associate-or-practice-with-other-nba-players-in-the-offseason/" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">following article</a>&nbsp;first appeared on&nbsp;<a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="http://basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="http://BasketballNetwork.net" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">BasketballNetwork.net</a>:
The altercation between Nikola Jokić and Markieff Morris that ended up in the Serbian pushing the Heat forward viciously in the back, retaliating to the cheap shot foul from Morris, captured NBA headlines last week. That push would start all-out chaos, with teams having to be separated and ejections, suspensions, fines, and even brothers of the protagonists getting involved. The whole incident made waves worldwide and caused numerous reactions. Even from the former No. 2 pick Darko Miličić.&nbsp;
Jokić&rsquo;s reaction was justified
Although at first, it seemed Nikola really overreacted and injured Morris, the second look told the whole story. Markieff went for Jokić&rsquo;s ribs and cheap-shotted in a very unnecessary manner with a move that could have definitely injured the Nuggets center. In the end, cooler heads prevailed, and the NBA got the type of show and drama they need on an occasional basis.
The NBA world reacted to this altercation immediately, as it was the main topic of discussion for days. The majority of people justified Nikola&rsquo;s reaction and agreed you can&rsquo;t cheap-shot a guy like that and simply turn your back. Shaq and Charles explained that perfectly on Inside the NBA.
Darko reacts and fires numerous shots at the Morris twins and the NBA
Another interesting reaction we got was from the former 2003 No. 2 pick and Jokić&rsquo;s countryman, Darko Miličić. One of the most infamous draft busts in NBA history has been retired for some time, trying out his luck in combat sports and farming after the NBA life. But occasionally, he still gives us controversial and non-filtered opinions on the basketball world.
Miličić&nbsp;is certain Jokić often gets targeted by opposing players due to his dominance and ability to bully opponents on the court, especially coming from a foreign country:
&ldquo;What else could Nikola expect when he comes to America, which has hundreds of millions, from a small country that does not have even six million people? He comes, dominates, and bullies them in basketball, becomes the best in the world? Similar to Novak in tennis&hellip; Of course, you will bother some people, and you will be their target," Miličić <a href="https://mozzartsport.com/kosarka/vesti/milicic-za-mozzart-sport-jokic-im-smeta-kao-okovic-nba-je-sou-igraci-nisu-gangsteri/403764" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said via Mozzart Sport</a>.
Miličić&nbsp;has a good point, as foreign players have to work extra hard to earn respect in the NBA. Miličić then went on to flame the Morris twins for being fake tough guys:
&ldquo;It is obvious that they (the Morris brothers) are building their careers on incidents and provocations, as &lsquo;dangerous guys.&rsquo; They survive on that basis. But Nikola shouldn&rsquo;t have allowed himself that because they achieved what they wanted by provocation. Nikola was suspended.&rdquo;&nbsp;
To cap it all off, Miličić called out all the "tough guys" in the NBA for just trying to put on a show for cameras rather than actually wanting to fight:
&ldquo;The NBA is a show. We can say whatever we want, where we come from&hellip; An epidemiological story that tries to be served as if they are all gangsters can&rsquo;t pass even with small children. All players are accomplished and earn at least enough. All that show (around fighting), it comes down to &lsquo;I to you, you to me&rsquo;, frowning&hellip; Those quasi-street threats are stereotyped. They didn&rsquo;t mean anything to me. Nikola turned out naive, pushed him visibly. I&rsquo;m not a scoundrel, but I didn&rsquo;t see the desire for a showdown. A small percentage of players are ready for the showdown. You turn out to be naive if you get hooked and in front of everyone. You turn out to be the culprit, regardless of the circumstances under which it happened.&rdquo;
Miličić&nbsp;is a bit blunt and direct with his statements, but he does have a point. NBA stars are basketball players primarily and professionals with a lot to lose. They don&rsquo;t want to fight anybody and risk losing substantial amounts of money.&nbsp;
Sure they will try to look tough for the cameras and the crowd, especially those who built a career on being labeled the "tough guy." But in reality, nobody really wants the smoke. Darko was a bust with many ridiculous statements in his career, but I have to agree with him this time.
Check out more articles from BasketballNetwork.net <a href="https://www.basketballnetwork.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

Darko Milicic offered his thoughts on the recent altercation between Nikola Jokic and Markieff Morris.

Darko Milicic feels Nikola Jokic is targeted as a foreign player

Ethan Fuller breaks down the NBA hierarchy and analyzes some way-to-early Cade Cunningham fits.