After a brutal outing on Wednesday, Kristaps Porzingis and Latvia rebounded in an effort again to beat Estonia within the recreation of the Eurobasket match. Firstly of the match, Estonia held a 12-point lead and led for 27 minutes earlier than permitting a rating of 12-0 by Latvia, after which they by no means seemed again. It was a extra bodily and defensive recreation, as a result of the 2 groups had hassle drawing the ball properly and dedicated practically 30 faults every, which resulted in additional than 20 free throws.
As for Porzingis, nonetheless, he delivered a big rebound efficiency, ending with 26 factors, seven rebounds and two blocks in simply 27 minutes of play. It was additionally very efficient in its efficiency right this moment, ending with 8/12 (66.7%) targets on the bottom, 8/8 (100%) targets on the bottom and 10/13 (76.9%) free launch. I might all the time prefer to see him work on his three -point shot, as a result of he went out of three after having tried 4 this match, towards 5 within the earlier match.
Porzingis’ protection has improved properly in 2 hours, in all probability its finest stage in summer season.
The outside taking pictures is all the time extinguished.
However he does work in portray:
– Kevin Chouinard (@klchouinard) August 29, 2025
Kristaps obtains the block at one finish and wins two FTS on the opposite. pic.twitter.com/pta2lrritu
– Kevin Chouinard (@klchouinard) August 29, 2025
Defensively, Porzingis confirmed that he might be a bit of a wall for anybody who has to go towards him in assault, as a result of he obtained two blocks in right this moment’s match. Most guys who will face Porzingis will in all probability have hassle, as a result of he has a 6 -foot 6 inch wingspan, who was the longest in his draft class 10 years in the past in 2015. He’s at 7 toes 2 inches, which implies that he’ll in all probability grow to be on anybody who goes towards, as we’ve seen right this moment.
As well as within the second half, Latvia pressured Estonia to 9 further reversals, ending with 16 after having seven within the first half, and left with 9 interceptions and three blocks within the crew. Estonia ended up taking pictures 44% from the sphere as a crew within the first half and 50% of the three-point seashore. Nevertheless, they then pulled 39% within the area and 35% of the three-point vary within the second interval, being upgraded 34-28.
Offensively, Latvia continued to struggle the taking pictures from three factors, as a result of they drew 14% within the first half and 18% within the second, which was an issue for them the final video games and completed the 2 video games within the match in lower than 40% in a crew, which isn’t distant. That is a part of the rationale they discovered themselves by important portions within the final two video games, with out forgetting that Estonia performed with out their reference middle, Maik-Kalev Kotsar, which may have made issues tougher for Porzingis to dominate inside.
To enhance this efficiency for Latvia, plan to cease the behavior of being content material with a lot outside photographs, as a result of it’s clear that it isn’t one of many stable areas of the crew and has nearly value them two video games within the match to date. One other space that they may additionally enhance is to handle basketball, as they allowed 15 reversal factors, which was nearly costly for them on the finish. They need to additionally play extra constantly on the primary half protection, so these deficits will not be always there to beat.
Latvia and Porzingis will play once more Saturday August 30 at 10 a.m. In opposition to Nikola Jokic and Serbia.
