Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic scored 31 points Sunday to lead Slovenia to a 96-85 win over Lithuania, propelling his home nation to its first-ever Olympics basketball tournament.
Doncic, 22, also had 11 rebounds and 13 assists to register a triple-double. He was named the MVP of the Olympic qualifying tournament, held in Kaunas, Lithuania.
๐ต M-V-P, M-V-P, M-V-P! ๐ต
A historic night for @luka7doncic, who helps ๐ธ๐ฎ book a ticket to #Tokyo2020 with a triple-double performance! โ๏ธ
๐ 31 PTS 11 REB 13 AST | 42 EFF pic.twitter.com/QAXqv8AfwO
— FIBA (@FIBA) July 4, 2021
Olympians. ๐
What a performance. What a team! Bravo, Slovenci! ๐ธ๐ฎ #FIBAOQT pic.twitter.com/eg3RCk42wf
— FIBA (@FIBA) July 4, 2021
Because Slovenia didn’t qualify for the 2019 FIBA World Cup, the country had to enter the last-chance tournament to earn a berth in the 2020 Tokyo Games, which begin later this month.
Doncic’s boss, Mavericks owner Ma…
Keep on reading: History as Doncic leads Slovenia to first Olympic basketball berth