Lauri Markkanen drops a game-high 43 points to lead Finland over Great Britain on Friday.
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TAMPERE, Finland (AP) — Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen scored 29 of his 43 points in the first half in a dazzling performance that highlighted Finland’s 109-79 rout of Great Britain at EuroBasket on Friday.
Markkanen played just 23 minutes while matching his EuroBasket high for points, set in 2022 against Croatia. He was four points off the all-time tournament record of 47 points by Slovenia’s Luka Doncic against France in 2022.
Finland is tied at 2-0 with Germany and Lithuania in Group B, which is being played in Tampere, Finland. Great Britain dropped to 0-2.
Markkanen, who scored 28 points in a 93-90 win over Sweden on Wednesday, shot 9-for-15 from the field in his 14 first-half minutes. He made five 3s in the first half and finished with seven, his last one giving Finland an 84-56 lead early in the fourth quarter. He was on the bench for the last 7 1/2 minutes.
Markkanen overshadowed teammate Sasu Salin, who shot 7-for-9 on 3s for all 21 of his points. Olivier Nkamhoua added 13 for Finland. Great Britain got 13 points from Luke Nelson.
43 points… in 23 minutes 😱
Lauri Markkanen's second-career 40-point @EuroBasket performance powered Finland to a W! pic.twitter.com/ZAVCiRKYKq
— NBA (@NBA) August 29, 2025
Jokić and Jović lead Serbia past Portugal
Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets had 23 points and 10 rebounds and the Miami Heat’s Nikola Jović added 18 points and six boards as tournament favorite Serbia defeated Portugal 80-69 in Riga, Latvia. Serbia improved to 2-0 in Group A and Portugal dropped to 1-1.
Jović’s inside basket early in the third quarter gave Serbia it’s biggest lead, 53-35, and Portugal never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.
Diogo Brito had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead Portugal and Travante Williams had 15 points and five steals.
Germany rolls past Sweden behind Schröder
Sacramento Kings guard Dennis Schröder scored a game-high 23 points and made seven assists to lead world champion Germany to a 105-83 win over Sweden.
Schröder shot 7-for-12 from the field, making three 3-pointers. Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner added 21 points as Germany went 2-0 in Group B after also beating Montenegro in its opening game.
Melwin Pantzar led Sweden with 18 points, with Pelle Larsson of the Miami Heat sidelined by an undisclosed illness.
Germany shot 60% for the game. Daniel Theis made a quick three buckets to help build an 8-0 lead and the world champion never looked back.
Germany is among the title contenders after it upset the United States en route to winning the 2023 Basketball World Cup, beating Serbia in the final.
Valančiūnas leads pass-happy Lithuania
Denver Nuggets center Jonas Valančiūnas scored 19 points on eight-of-nine shooting to lead Lithuania to a 94-76 win over Montenegro on a record-making night for the winner.
Lithuania, 2-0 in Group B, made a EuroBasket record 35 assists, according to the organizers.
The 33-year-old Valančiūnas also reached the milestone of 500 points in Eurobaskets, playing in his sixth edition of the tournament.
Sengun comes close to triple-double
Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun came close to a triple-double as he helped Turkey beat the Czech Republic 92-78.
Sengun scored 23 points from eight-of-nine shooting, pulled in 12 rebounds, and made nine assists as Turkey went to 2-0 in Group A, which is being played in Riga, Latvia.
Turkey got 21 more points from Cedi Osman and as a team dominated in the points-in-the-paint, 50-26.
Czech center Martin Peterka stepped outside and hit five 3-pointers, scoring 23 in a losing effort.
The Czechs, 0-2, hit five early 3-pointers to open a six-point lead after the first quarter. But Turkey responded with a 14-0 run and never fell behind again.
