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Luka Doncic and the Slovenian men's national basketball team will take on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics hosts Japan in a men's basketball Group C match on Thursday.
Slovenia are coming off a monster victory over Argentina. Doncic and co. routed the Argentinians in an 18-point blowout. On the other side of the floor, Japan's opening game did not go as planned, as they lost by 11 points to Spain.
Thus, both Slovenia and Japan need a victory in their second group-stage game to stay in medal contention. The top two teams in each group and the two best third-placed teams from the three groups will qualify for the uarter-finals. If Japan lose another game, they will move to the cusp of elimination.
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Match Details
Fixture - Slovenia vs Japan | Tokyo Olympics 2020 Basketball.
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Date & Time - Thursday, July 29th; 1:40 PM JST (July 29th; 12:40 AM ET).
Venue - Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan.
Japan Preview
Japan are coming off a disappointing loss in their men's basketball opener against Spain.
Toronto Raptors' Yuta Watanabe and Washington Wizards' Rui Hachimura scored 19 and 20 points, respectively and carried the bulk of the team's scoring. However, they both shot only 38% from the field and were the only two players in double digits for their team.
Spain outscored Japan 30-14 in the second quarter, and that practically won the Spaniards the game, as the host country had to play from behind the entire time.
Japan are ranked 42nd in the FIBA World rankings, while Spain are second, so the scales were uneven from the off. However, Japan put up a worthy fight and if their other players contribute and help Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe, they could pull off a victory against 16th-ranked Slovenia.
Spain's Ricky Rubio went off for 20 points on 8-13 (62%) shooting from the field. They had four players in double figures, including Pau Gasol and Sergio Rodriguez. Japan will need more contribution from their role players and also improve defensively.
Also Check out: Japan Men's Olympic Basketball Team 2021
Team News: Japan
Japan's frontcourt of Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe does most of the heavy lifting for the team's offense.
Other than these two, Yudai Baba got 30 minutes of playing time, and scored seven points on 2-3 shooting. Moreover, Gavin Earl Edwards scored eight points on seven shot attempts. Guard Makoto Hiejima scored 15 points in a warm-up game against the French, but got just one shot attempt in ten minutes of play against Spain.
Japan's last podium finish in international basketball was a third-place finish at the 2017 EABA Championship for Men, which was their first medal in 20 years at a FIBA event.
Japan Predicted Lineup
Point Guard - Daiki Tanaka | Shooting Guard - Yudai Baba | Small Forward - Yuta Watanabe | Power Forward - Rui Hachimura | Center - Gavin Edwards
Slovenia Preview
Slovenia blew out Argentina in their group-stage game by 18 points after leading by 30.
Argentina had more assists and steals, fewer turnovers, more points off turnovers, more fastbreak points and also more points in the paint, but still lost the game, thanks to a 48-point outburst by Luka Doncic.
The 22-year-old posted 48 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three blocks leading Slovenia to a victory on his Olympic debut.
Luka Doncic has already made it clear he wants to take his country to the gold medal. The world's first-ranked USA appear to be in shambles after losing three of their last four international games. Argentina's coach called Doncic the best player in the world, and many believe an Olympic medal could be on the anvil for Slovenia.
Alongside Luka Doncic, Mike Tobey had 11 points on 5-8 shooting along with 14 rebounds. Klemen Prepelic had key contributions as well, going off for 22 points on 6-8 shooting, including 4-6 from beyond the arc. Moreover, Vlatko Cancar had 12 points, five assist and two steals in 26 minutes.
Also Check out: Slovenia Olympic Basketball Team 2021
Team News: Slovenia
Luka Doncic will be the team's point guard in the backcourt alongside Jaka Blazic, who will be the shooting guard. Zoran Dragic and Vlatko Cancar will be Slovenia's frontcourt, with Mike Tobey at center.
The team's scoring will be primarily from their backcourt. with Luka Doncic carrying the bulk of the burden.
Klemen Prepelic, Luka Rupnik and Edo Muric should get the most minutes off the bench.
Slovenia Predicted Lineup
Point Guard - Luka Doncic l Shooting Guard - Jaka Blazic l Small Forward - Zoran Dragic l Power Forward - Vlatko Cancar l Center - Mike Tobey.
Slovenia vs Japan Prediction
This matchup is expected to pique the interest of basketball fans around the world. Luka Doncic has become a worldwide phenomenon and widely regarded the next face of the NBA.
Meanwhile, Japan feature two talented NBA players in Rui Hachimura and Yuta Watanabe. The host country will try their best to avoid losing another group-stage match, or else they might find themselves eliminated.
Moreover, Slovenia's next group-stage game will be against second-ranked Spain. So winning this game against Japan would be the ideal scenario for Slovenia ahead of their clash against Spain.
Where to watch the Slovenia vs Japan game?
The Slovenia-Japan Tokyo Olympics 2020 game will be televised live on CNBC and Peacock. NBC will be showing Olympic coverage in the USA and will spread the games across NBC, NBC Sports, NBC's Olympic Channel, CNBC, USA and the Golf Channel.
Moreover, Eurosport and Discovery+ will cover the 2020 Summer games in Europe. Fans in India can watch it on Sony Channels, including Sony Ten 1, Sony Ten 3 and Sony ESPN and also on the SonyLiv app.
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