The Lithuanian National Basketball Team lost to Georgia recently in the EuroBasket 2017 wars in one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far. The European powerhouse is considered as one of the favorites to win the competition, while Georgia is not even fancied to make it past the first round, as they are missing some key players.

It may seem like all bad news for the Lithuanians, but if there’s any silver lining to the disappointing result they had, their young small forward, Mindaugas Kuzminskas, debuted with a solid performance. He finished the game with 18 points, seven rebounds, one assist, and one steal, in 27 minutes of action.

The New York Knicks forward turned a lot of heads with his overall brilliance on the night. While Jonas Valanciunas and Donatas Motiejunas are the ones expected to lead their team, it was the 27-year-old who shone the brightest.

Kuzminskas’ confidence is at an all-time high as he became a part of the Knicks' rotation last season, and even produced decent averages of 6.3 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 14.9 minutes per game. If he can continue to have solid games throughout the EuroBasket tournament, it could lead to having a bigger role with the Knicks next season, and will further increase his morale.

For now, it remains to be seen if he can sustain the production, but one thing certain is that the Lithuanians, as well as the New York faithful, are all rooting for him.