Luka Doncic led Slovenia to their first victory at the Olympics. The Dallas Mavericks superstar scored 48 points and narrowly missed the point record in his country’s 118: 100 victory over Argentina.
Doncic finished the game with an absurd statline of 48 points (18/29 FG, 6/14 threesome, 6/7 FT, plus-minus: +34), 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks in 31 minutes, leading Slovenia almost single-handedly in the Olympic debut to the first victory. It was the highest number of points ever scored by an NBA player at the Olympics.
From minute one, the vice world champion from Argentina around the 41-year-old oldie Luis Scola had no chance. Doncic started like the fire brigade and hit his first three stepbacks, including a rainbow throw, from the left corner. Slovenia won the first quarter with 32:24 and extended their lead to 62:42 in the second section.
Most of the time, the gauchos refrained from doubling against the superstar and were mercilessly punished for it. The threesome was no longer as constant, but the number 77 was now able to use its teammates more and more. With five minutes to go, Doncic had finished work, Slovenia played it down confidently and also kept the good basket ratio, which could possibly be important.
Luka Doncic misses Oscar Schmidt’s record
So in the end Doncic got no chance to attack the record for the most points in a game. This is still held by the legendary Brazilian Oscar Schmidt, who poured 55 points in Seoul, Spain in 1988. It was still the second highest score of all time by a player at an Olympic tournament. This also impressed Argentina’s legend Manu Ginobili, who described Doncic as a “beast” during the game.
In addition to Doncic, Klemen Prepelic (22), Nuggets-Forward Vlatko Cancar (12) and the naturalized American Mike Tobey (11, 14 rebounds) also scored double-digit, for Argentina Nuggets-Guard Facundo Campazzo (21) and Scola (23) the best scorers.
Slovenia will meet hosts Japan on Thursday at 6:40 a.m. German time, while the gauchos will be looking to advance against Spain at 2 p.m.
Olympia: Group C at a glance
| Rang | Team | Balance sheet | Basket ratio |
| 1 | Slovenia | 1-0 | 118:100 |
| 2 | Spain | 0-0 | 0:0 |
| 3 | Japan | 0-0 | 0:0 |
| 4 | Argentina | 0-1 | 100:118 |
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