RIGA (Latvia) - Time to call Slitere, the Latvian seismic station located just off the coast of the Baltic Sea. We need to figure out if the earth was literally shaking as Alperen Sengun and Nikola Jokic went at each other for 40 minutes.
Nikola Jokic had 22 points, hitting 10-of-16 shots from the field, while grabbing 9 rebounds, with 4 assists, 3 steals, a block and an efficiency rating of 31.
Going up against him, the 23-year-old Alperen Sengun got the bragging rights in the matchup, picking up the win and the TCL Player of the Game award.
He finished with 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc, with 13 rebounds, 8 assists and an efficiency rating of 37.
"Jokic is one of the best players in the world. Rather, he's the best, as of recently. To play and get this win against him was really important for us. As for me, I also had the extra motivation for this game. So we're happy. And I'm happy I've played well and we won," Alperen said after the game.
The two frontrunners for the MVP award were simply sensational. With Türkiye and Serbia locking spots #1 and #2 in Group A, volume 2 of this matchup cannot happen in the Knock-Out Phase until the Final or the Third-Place Game.
FIBA