Doncic defeats Jokic in NBA Superstars match at Stožice

Ljubljana – The Slovenian men’s basketball team prepares for EuroBasket as Slovenian Luka Doncic dominates NBA superstar Nikola Jokic to defeat Serbia 97:92 in an overtime thriller in Ljubljana on Wednesday night. We won another victory while advancing.

The packed-out Štřice Arena, with a host of celebrities including tennis legend Novak Djokovic and UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, marked Slovenia’s fifth win in many warm-up matches leading up to the European Championship. rice field.

Nearly 12,000 spectators at the sold-out Stožice Arena saw Slovenian NBA superstar Doncic score 34 points to secure the victory for the home team, surpassing current NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Jokic with 26 points. I saw him earn and record 12 rebounds.

A replay of the 2017 EuroBasket final in Istanbul, won by Slovenia, surprised everyone that extra time was needed to determine the winner as no team led by more than five points at any point. I didn’t.

Jokić’s teammate for the Denver Nuggets, Slovenia’s Vlatko Chanchal, made the decisive 3-pointer in the extra session.

Veteran Goran Gragic, who recently signed with the Chicago Bulls, played just five minutes as head coach Alexander Seclic decided to rest him and avoid a possible injury.

“We won this victory with a lot of aggression, sacrifice and above all team play,” Seclic told reporters after the game.

Muric added: We have a lot of work ahead of us and we have to pick up the pace and improve our defense.”

After playing a friendly against Croatia in Celje on Saturday, Slovenia will play two qualifying matches for the 2023 World Cup next week. They face Estonia in Celje and Germany in Munich before traveling to Cologne for EuroBasket.