After an almost five long years of absence, Goran Dragic returned to the court in a Slovenian jersey and participated in his final international match in Ljubljana. The Slovenian national team defeated Croatia 97-69 to prevent them from ruining the good evening (33-8, 21-27, 22-16, 21-18).
With three victories and two defeats, the team improved to second place in Group C, passing Croatia (1-4) going into the World Cup Qualifying Round. Croatia must defeat Finland and hope that Sweden loses to Slovenia in order to advance to the next round.
Slovenia performed admirably in the opening period. While their NT led by 25 points, Goran Dragic (9 PTS) and Luka Doncic (11 PTS) combined for 20 points (33-8). Slovenia controlled the remainder of the match, preventing Croatia from reflecting on its victory.
As expected, Luka Doncic was at his absolute best during the match. He posted a near triple-double with 21 points (3/5 2PT, 3/9 3PT, 6/8 FT), 8 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 turnovers, 2 steals, and 28 PIR. And you know it’s not possible that Goran Dragic will let anyone else steal the spotlight. He wasn’t much behind Doncic and posted 19 points (8/12 2PT, 0/4 3PT, 3/7 FT), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 turnover, 1 steal, and 14 PIR.
Star Performers from each side
Slovenia: Luka Doncic 21 (8 REB, 10 AST), Goran Dragic 19, Mike Tobey 16 (13 REB, 27 PIR).
Croatia: Mario Hezonja 22 (9 REB, 6 AST, 21 PIR), Ivica Zubac 14 (7 REB), Bojan Bogdanovic 13 (6 TO).
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