Kristaps Porzingis is meeting expectations in his first taste of elite international competition. On Sunday, the Unicorn will try to lead Latvia to its second straight quarterfinal stint in the EuroBasket as they take on Montenegro in the round-of-16 knockout match at Ülker Sports Arena in Turkey.
What’s at stake?
Again, Latvia is gunning for a spot in the quarterfinal round after finishing 8th in the 2015 EuroBasket. Porzingis, who was still a 19-year old kid back then, has become the difference maker for Latvia in most of their group stages matches.
Latvia scored huge wins against Belgium 92-64, Great Britain 97-92, Russia 84-69 and Turkey 89-79. They could have topped Group D but dropped a tightly-contested match against Serbia 92-82.
Montenegro is one of EuroBasket’s biggest surprises so far. The finished the group stages with 3-2 slate – which is good for 3rd place in the group. Powered Orlando Magic center Nikola Vucevic, Montenegro recorded wins against Hungry 72-48, Czech Republic 88-75 and Romania 86-69. Montenegro is already guaranteed for their best finish in EuroBasket every after advancing to the round-of-16. However, they could achieve the even greater feat with an upset win over the star-studded Latvian team.
Players to watch out for
Latvia – Porzingis is the present and future of Latvian basketball for a reason. He averaged 22.4 points on 51 percent FG shooting (40 percent from the 3-point arc). The Knicks star has to explode once more but he will also need from Davis Bertans and Dairis Bertans, who combined for an average of 24.4 points.
Montenegro – Vucevic has been the heart and soul of this team, and he will continue to assume that role in the win or go home match. The Magic stalwart is posting 14.2 points and 7.8 boards in five group stages games, while naturalized player Tyrese Rice tallied 10.8 points per outing. The two must outplay their respective matchups in order for Montenegro to pull off an upset.
It’s a daunting task but certainly not impossible.
Quick prediction and live stream
Latvia will depend heavily on the firepower of Porzingis and the Bertans brothers, while Montenegro pins their hope of Rice and Vucevic. This is going to be an intriguing matchup of offense vs. defense. Latvia has the edge offensively but Montenegro could make the game close down the wire if they play tough physical defense. Predicted score – Latvia 90, Montenegro 86.
Latvia vs. Montenegro round-of-16 match will be live on ESPN and can be watched via live stream on LiveBasketball TV or SportsStream. Follow boxscores stats and play-by-play commentary on EuroBasket live stats.
