LIMASSOL, Cyprus (AP) \u2014 American-born guard Jordan Loyd hit seven 3-pointers and finished with 32 points to help Poland outlast Slovenia and Los Angles Lakers star Luka Doncic 105-95 Thursday in both teams’ EuroBasket opener. <\/p>\n
Loyd’s efforts spoiled a strong effort by Doncic, the slimmed-down NBA star, who finished with 34 points and nine rebounds in the Group D matchup in Katowice, Poland. Poland led 47-46 at the half, then outscored Slovenia 33-23 in the third quarter to take control.<\/p>\n
Fellow NBA and Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo had a much easier outing, scoring 31 points in 29 minutes for Greece as it downed Italy 75-66 in Group C in Limassol, Cyprus. Greece shot 62% from the field and hit seven 3s in the victory.<\/p>\n
Georgia upsets defending champs<\/p>\n
In another Group C matchup, Toronto Raptors forward Sandro Mamukelashvili scored 19 points to lead Georgia to an 83-69 upset victory over defending champion Spain.<\/p>\n
Mamukelashvili added seven rebounds and six assists as Georgia outrebounded Spain 46-29. Spain shot poorly in a disjointed performance \u2014 only making 6 of 13 free throws \u2014 but still only trailed 61-58 in the fourth quarter when Georgia went on an 11-2 run to take a decisive lead. <\/p>\n
American-born guard Kamar Baldwin had 12 points for Georgia, including a 3-pointer in the final seconds.<\/p>\n
Juancho Hernang\u00f3mez led Spain with 13 points in the Group C game at Spyros Kyprianou Arena.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey deserved to win. They played way better. They played more physically than us,\u201d Hernang\u00f3mez said. \u201cWe played really, really bad … so let\u2019s get better for the next game.\u201d<\/p>\n
No Wemby, no problem; Bosnia runs by Cyprus<\/p>\n
France, playing without Victor Wembanyama at the tournament, eased past Belgium 92-64 with the rest of its NBA talent on display in a dominant performance in Katowice, Poland. <\/p>\n
Washington Wizards shooting guard Bilal Coulibaly had 12 points and seven rebounds. NBA teammate Alex Sarr provided one of the game highlights late in the first quarter, dunking off a running, behind-the-back pass from Sylvain Francisco.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe needed to make a strong debut as a team and I think that’s what we did,” France shooting guard Isaia Cordinier said. \u201cEverybody brings something to the team. … The danger comes from everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israel beat Iceland 83-71 in Katowice, leading throughout following a 10-0 run in the first quarter. Roman Sorkin scored 31 points for Israel in their Group D opener.<\/p>\n
Co-host Cyprus was trounced 91-64 by Bosnia and Herzegovina. ___<\/p>\n