Luka Doncic struggles as Bosnia and Herzegovina takes down Slovenia / News - Basketnews.com

Clutch defense in the fourth quarter from Bosnia and Herzegovina forced Luka Doncic to struggle as Slovenia took its first loss in EuroBasket 2022.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Wonderful team offense from Bosnia and Herzegovina (2-1) earned the underdogs a solid win over tournament-favorite Slovenia (2-1) 97-93 (26-32, 23-20, 23-21, 25-20).

Player of the Game EFF 24 Dzanan Musa Points 22 Accuracy 7-13 Rebounds 5 Assists 5

With the game tied at 89 and just under four minutes to go, Jusuf Nurkic forced Luka Doncic to foul, and converted the subsequent free throws. Then, John Roberson made a wide-open three-pointer to put Bosnia and Herzegovina up by five (91-86).

Slovenia looked startled while trying to attack the Bosnian zone defense and scored mostly by individual effort. Besides, there were some conflicts on the defensive side too when Klemen Prepelic and Mike Tobey miscommunicated which allowed Bosnia to score quite easily.

Although Luka Doncic outplayed Nurkic afterward to narrow Slovenia's deficit to two (89-91), Edin Atic converted an easy layup to put the underdogs up by four (93-89).

With under a minute to go in the fourth quarter and down by two, Slovenia had to trust its defense but Bosnia and Herzegovina gained another chance after missed Roberson's layup which ended in two made free throws by Atic.

Doncic scored a quick layup and left 6 seconds on the clock to earn a miracle for Slovenia down by two (93-95). Roberson was fouled on the issuing inbound and converted both free throws to seal the game (97-93).

Having previously dominated in EuroBasket 2022, Luka Doncic looked human against the Bosnians. He scored just 6 points in the first half and finished the game with 16 on 8-for-18 shooting, missing all eight of his three-pointers.

Although he shot 80% from inside the arc, Luka also turned the ball over 5 times. He also added 8 rebounds and 8 assists to his account.

Bosnians have more surprises ahead, hints Luka Doncic got tired

The duo of Dzanan Musa and John Roberson dominated on the other side of the court. Musa scored 22 points on 7-for-13 shooting, grabbing 5 rebounds and dishing out 5 assists. Roberson ended the game with 23 points, making 7 three-pointers along the way. He also made 4 rebounds and drew 4 fouls.

With the win, Bosnia and Herzegovina overtook Slovenia as the second-place team in Group B. If France wins this evening's matchup against Hungary, that would put Lithuania (0-3) in an unfavorable position fighting for the spot in the next round. You can view the situation in Group B here.

Slovenia: Vlatko Cancar 22 (4/8 2PT, 3/9 3PT, 5/5 FT), Goran Dragic 20 (6/11 2PT, 2/4 3PT, 2/4 FT, 5 REB, 6 AST), Luka Doncic 16 (8/10 2PT, 0/8 3PT, 8 REB, 8 AST, 4 STL, 5 TO), Klemen Prepelic 12 (2/2 2PT, 2/4 3PT), Mike Tobey 11 (4/7 2PT, 7 REB).

Bosnia and Herzegovina: John Roberson 23 (7/13 3PT, 4 REB), Dzanan Musa 22 (4/8 2PT, 3/5 3PT, 5 REB, 5 AST), Miralem Halilovic 13 (6/9 2PT, 10 REB), Jusuf Nurkic 12 (2/9 2PT, 1/4 3PT, 5/5 FT, 9 REB, 4 AST, 6 TO), Edin Atic 12 (2/5 2PT, 2/3 3PT, 6 REB, 4 AST).

Dzanan Musa's highlights:

Full game highlights:

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