By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Lauri Markkanen scored 28 points (9-22 shots) and grabbed nine rebounds in 29 minutes to lead Finland to a 79 – 73 win over Israeli in the teams’ opening game for the second phase of the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers on the second day of the August FIBA Windows.
Markkanen dropped five of his points in the last two minutes to help Finland get the victory. With the score 73 – 71, the Cleveland Cavaliers forward drained a pair of free throws and then made a 3-point play to put his team up 77 – 73 with 1:06 remaining.
Israel had plenty of opportunities to approach by a shooting distance but Yam Madar and Yovel Zoosman couldn’t find the target. Petteri Koponen hit two free throws with 19 seconds to play to secure the hosts’ win, a result that improves them to 6-1 in Group J.
Elias Valtoren added 14 points plus six rebounds for Finland. Roman Sorkin (14 points, eight rebounds), Nimrod Levi (13 points), and Madar (11 points) scored in double figures for Israel. Deni Avdija had an off night with eight points on 3-10 shots in 18:47.
It was the start of an epic night with Serbia getting the 100-94 overtime win over Greece, Doncic, and Slovenia beating Estonia 104-83, while Kristaps Porzingis and Latvia prevailed over Turkey 111-85.
In the other two games of the night, Germany beat Sweden by 17 points on the road (67-50) with Franz Wagner scoring 16 points, while Belgium got the 72-57 win over Great Britain with Ismael Bako scoring 17.
Group I
| GAMES | STREAK | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | Last 5 | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 |  Latvia* |
5 | 4 | 1 | 80.0 |
|
411 | 373 | 38 | 82.2 | 74.6 | 9 |
| 2 |  Greece |
5 | 3 | 2 | 60.0 |
|
404 | 387 | 17 | 80.8 | 77.4 | 8 |
| 3 |  Belgium* |
5 | 3 | 2 | 60.0 |
|
347 | 333 | 14 | 69.4 | 66.6 | 8 |
| 4 |  Serbia* |
5 | 2 | 3 | 40.0 |
|
402 | 407 | -5 | 80.4 | 81.4 | 7 |
| 5 |  Turkey |
5 | 2 | 3 | 40.0 |
|
392 | 397 | -5 | 78.4 | 79.4 | 7 |
| 6 |  Great Britain |
5 | 1 | 4 | 20.0 |
|
344 | 403 | -59 | 68.8 | 80.6 | 6 |
Group J
| GAMES | STREAK | GAME POINTS | POINTS | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Team | P | W | L | % | Last 5 | For | Agt | +/- | FA | AA | |
| 1 |  Germany |
7 | 6 | 1 | 85.7 |
|
541 | 475 | 66 | 77.3 | 67.9 | 13 |
| 2 |  Finland |
7 | 6 | 1 | 85.7 |
|
553 | 519 | 34 | 79 | 74.1 | 13 |
| 3 |  Slovenia |
7 | 5 | 2 | 71.4 |
|
610 | 565 | 45 | 87.1 | 80.7 | 12 |
| 4 |  Israel |
7 | 3 | 4 | 42.9 |
|
549 | 531 | 18 | 78.4 | 75.9 | 10 |
| 5 |  Sweden |
7 | 2 | 5 | 28.6 |
|
529 | 561 | -32 | 75.6 | 80.1 | 9 |
| 6 |  Estonia |
7 | 2 | 5 | 28.6 |
|
498 | 574 | -76 | 71.1 | 82 | 9 |
* In games played for the Eurobasket 2025 pre-qualifiers, Bulgaria beat Cyprus 88-55 behind 24 points by Sasa Vezenkov, while Croatia prevailed on the road over Poland (72-69) with Ivica Zubac having a double-double (19 p. 10 r.) and Mateusz Ponitka scoring 26 points for the losing side.
Bulgaria, Poland, and Croatia are out of the upcoming FIBA World Cup but will compete in the Eurobasket 2022 in the next few days.