Spain, the defending champions, defeated Finland on Tuesday by 100-90 to advance to the semifinals for the eleventh consecutive Eurobasket competition.
With 10-of-13 shooting from the field and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe, Willy Hernangomez completed the game with 27 points, five rebounds, and a block. His group defeated the Finland team, which was captained by Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, who had a memorable game. Markkanen finished with a game-high 28 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two three-pointers.
Finland got the game going quickly, taking the lead early on, 30-19. The Finnish team had a 15-point advantage early on, but Spain's veterans maintained their composure and slowly whittled away at the margin to make it 52-43 at the break.
After the break, Spain was the following country to heat up. With a 14-5 run to start the second half, the Spanish squad impressed the crowd with many dunks and 10 points from Willy.
The game was knotted at 57 after that run, but Spain took the lead at 60-57 on a three-pointer by Joel Parra.
With just under five minutes left, Finland got as close as 84-80. Still, Spain maintained composure and hit three three-pointers in the closing seconds to increase its lead to as many as 11, advancing to an unheard-of 11th straight Eurobasket semifinal appearance.
Given that either Germany or Greece will be waiting for them in the semifinals, Spain's path to the Eurobasket Final and a back-to-back triumph won't be simple. Dennis Schroder and Franz Wagner, two NBA players who represent Germany, are the team's captains. Giannis Antetokounmpo and his brothers represent Greece.
Juancho Hernangomez, Willy's brother, led Spain with 15 points and four rebounds, and Usman Garuba, a second-year player for the Rockets, finished with seven points, six rebounds, three assists, a block, and a steal in just 16 minutes. Mikael Jantunen led Finland with 18 points, Alexander Madsen with 13 and Sasu Salin with 13.
Markkanen finishes the tournament strong despite the defeat. He averaged 23.0 points and 9.4 rebounds per game in five games, both of which were among the top five at Eurobasket. When Markkanen was sent from Cleveland to Utah as part of the Donovan Mitchell transaction, his fantasy value considerably increased. Will his strong showing in the Eurobasket increase his stock even further?
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