Slovenia is back in the quarterfinals of European Shoes, and Luka Doncic once again draws memorial with years of performance. The Dallas Mavericks star fell 42 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and added three steals to Riga's 84-77 win over Italy.
Honestly, how do you defend this? You just pray that it won't enter.#eurobasket pic.twitter.com/kiweofuewn
– fiba eurobasket (@eurobasket) September 7, 2025
After the game, Doncic talked not only about these numbers, but also about the bonds that fueled Slovenia's success.
“Why are we special? Because everyone works with each other,” Doncic said. “We get along well and the chemistry is at its peak. Sometimes we 'arguing', but it's part of the sports – on the court, we just want to help each other. As I said before, all of this is attributed to these people.”
The 25-year-old admitted that the battle with Italy was running out, but once again praised his teammates for their resilience.
“It's very tiring, it's a very reasonable game,” Don Sici told reporters after the final buzzer. “We knew Italy had a lot of weapons, but in the end we stuck with it. I always praised these guys, and I do it again now – their game was great, we all lost, we all lost, we all won. Everyone attributed to everyone, we played with each other.”
Italy grabbed it in the third quarter, narrowing its lead to seven, but Slovenia never lost control. Doncic explains how he adjusts as the game goes.
Doncic said: “They started defending me with the switch, but then I found the rhythm and got some points…well, a few (laughs), and then they doubled, but our game was flowing. ​​”
Luca also admits that he is far from fully healthy.
“Of course, everything will hurt, but we will do it, everything will get better. I hope everything will get better and we will do our best.”
As Germany followed, Doncic did not retreat.
“Before the game, I've said we believe and keep moving forward,” Luca said. “Now, we're facing a very tough game against Germany, but we keep moving forward.”
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