After a strong showing in the group phase of the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 tournament, Luka Doncic and the Slovenian national team took care of business in the first round of the bracket stage on Saturday. The Dallas Mavericks superstar was all business as he led his team to a massive elimination win over Belgium to advance to the quarter-finals.
Doncic dropped a game-high 35 points in this one, en route to shattering a long-standing EuroLeague record with his amazing display (h/t ClutchPoints on Twitter):
First player to score 30+ in three consecutive Eurobasket games in the last 30 years.
To say that Luka Doncic is on a hot streak would be a complete understatement. Prior to Saturday's win, Doncic dropped a mind-boggling 47 points against Rudy Gobert and France in their final group-phase game. Before that, Doncic logged 36 against another strong side in Germany. Thanks to Luka's heroics, Slovenia lost just one game in the opening stage of the tournament as they finished as the No. 1 seed in Group B.
Apart from his 35 points against a determined Belgium side, Luka also added five rebounds, five assists, four steals, and just one turnover in 36 minutes of play. He went 11-of-25 from the field and 4-of-10 from beyond the arc.
Slovenia will now face off against the winners of Sunday's clash between Ukraine and Poland. Based on what we've seen from Luka throughout this tournament, however, you can be sure that Slovenia is going to be the favorite regardless of who they go up against on Wednesday.