UTAH Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen dropped another stunning performance, scoring 43 points to lead Finland to a dominating 109-79 win over Britain at the FIBA Eurobasket on Aug. 30, 2025 (PH time).
Markkanen played just 23 minutes but managed to match his EuroBasket career-high for points, set in 2022 against Croatia. He finished just four points shy of the all-time EuroBasket record of 47 points, held by Slovenia’s Luka Dončić, who scored that total against France in 2022.
With the win, Finland remains unbeaten at 2-0, sharing the top spot in Group B with Germany and Lithuania.
Britain, on the other hand, fell to 0-2 in the group stage.
Markkanen, who had scored 28 points in Finland’s 93-90 win over Sweden earlier in the week, was on fire from the field. He shot 9-of-15 in the first half, including five 3-pointers. His last three-pointer early in the fourth quarter gave Finland an overwhelming 84-56 lead.
While Markkanen stole the show, his teammate Sasu Salin also had an impressive outing, going 7-of-9 from beyond the arc to finish with 21 points. Olivier Nkamhoua chipped in with 13 points for Finland.
Britain’s top scorer, Luke Nelson, had 13 points in the loss. / RSC