Luka Doncic Scores 39, Nearly Gets Triple-Double in Slovenia's EuroBasket 2025 Loss
Luka Dončić's 39-point effort wasn't enough, as Slovenia fell 103-95 to France in group play on Saturday.
The Los Angeles Lakers star put up 39 points, nine assists and eight rebounds in 35 minutes. He did most of his damage at the free-throw line, going 19-of-20 from the charity stripe.
Slovenia was considered an underdog playing in one of the deepest groups in the entire tournament, led by a French team that is one of the favorites to win the whole thing.
The results have played out that way so far, with the Slovenians dropping their first two games and being outscored by 18 points. Dončić is doing everything in his power to carry the team.
Saturday's game came on the heels of Dončić putting up 34 points, nine assists and four rebounds against Poland on Thursday.
France star Sylvain Francisco nearly matched Dončić point for point. He finished with 32 on 9-of-15 shooting in 26 minutes. There was a controversial moment at the end of the game when he had the ball and was running out the clock, then decided to drive to the basket for a layup in the final seconds.
Point differential does matter in potential tiebreakers and seeding in the next round, but when you've already started shaking hands with the opposing team, it's not a great look.
Slovenia also took exception to it, resulting in a brief skirmish on the court. Francisco and Gregor Hrovat (Slovenia) received technical fouls. Nadir Hifi (France) was ejected after coming onto the court from the bench.
Francisco told reporters after the game he apologized to Dončić, though he admitted only regretting that he started shaking hands because of the value of point differential.
"You know, we've got point differential, which is really important in EuroBasket, and that's why it just clicked in my head," said Francisco. "At the end of the day, I would never do that, but I take full responsibility for it, and I just gotta move forward."
France's plus-36 point differential is the best of any team in Group D thus far. Israel and Poland were the only other teams in the group with a positive point differential.
Slovenia will attempt to get its first win of the tournament on Sunday against Belgium at 8 a.m. ET. France will play Israel in a marquee game in Group D at 11 a.m. ET.
