Lauri Markkanen and Finland escaped with a 93-90 win against Sweden in the first round of Eurobasket.
Markkanen played very well with 28 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. It’s nice to see him playing like this with high stakes. Multiple times you see Markkanen handling the ball and impacting the game at a high level.
Markkanen’s signature cutting and spot-up three-point shooting was on full display.
Finland’s next game will be on Friday, August 29th, against Great Britain.
Markkanen had a fantastic series of exhibitions to warm up for the Eurobasket tournament and continues to play well now that everything counts. He looks healthy and athletic again, which is a great sign for both the Finnish national team and the Utah Jazz. Yes, Markkanen had a down year last season, but it’s looking like he’ll have a bounce-back season for the Jazz. The off year last year could have been attributed to several factors: being on a young, inexperienced team, possible nagging injuries, or he might have simply not played well. Whatever the case, it’s nice to see him doing this again for Finland.