Lauri Markkanen pushes Finland past Israel with a 28-point performance to give Finland its sixth win in the World Cup 2023 European qualifiers group J.
Lauri Markkanen delivers another amazing performance with Finland national team's jersey to power his team with a 28-point performance over Israel with a final score of 79-73 (22-19, 25-18, 11-19, 21-17) in the World Cup 2023 European qualifiers Group J.
| Player of the Game | |
|
EFF
23
|
| Lauri Markkanen | |
| Points | 28 |
| Accuracy | 9-22 |
| Rebounds | 9 |
| Assists | 0 |
Finland (6-1) stays at the top of Group J after the win, solidifying their chances to qualify for the 2023 World Cup, while Israel (3-4) complicates their chances even further.
Markkanen converted on a 3-point play and gave Finland a 4-point lead with 1:24 left in the game. Israel did not manage to score for the rest of the final quarter and Finland was victorious.
With 1:33 left in the fourth quarter, Roman Sorkin scored with a dunk to leave Finland just a 1-point advantage (74-73).
Finland started the fourth quarter stronger, and after Petteri Koponen's 3-pointer, with 7:47 left in the game, increased Finland's lead to 7 points (65-58).
Israel had a more successful third quarter and managed to close the gap to a 2-point deficit (58-56) with 38 seconds left in the quarter after Tomer Ginat converted on a layup.
Finland had a lead for most of the first half, but their 12-2 run to end the second quarter gave them a 10-point lead (47-37) before the half-break.
Finland was led by Lauri Markkanen, who finished the game with 28 points (7/16 2PT, 2/6 3PT, 8/10 FT), 9 rebounds, and 2 steals.
For Israel, Roman Sorkin had 14 points (5/7 2PTS, 4/6 FT), 8 rebounds, 2 blocks, 1 assist, and 1 steal.
Finland: Lauri Markkanen 28 (9 REB), Elias Valtonen 14 (6 REB), Petteri Koponen 8, Mikael Jantunen 6 (5 REB), Sasu Salin 6 (5 REB);
Israel: Roman Sorkin 14 (8 REB), Nimrod Levi 13 (4 REB), Yam Madar 11, Deni Avdija 8 (4 REB), Tamir Blatt 8 (4 AST).
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