Miami Heat point guard Goran Dragic put on a masterclass in the Euro Basketball Finals to lead his national team Slovenia past Serbia to the title. The 31-year-old scored 35 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists on his way to winning his country's first Euro Basketball title.
Most Valuable Player
Dragic's performance was deemed worthy of the Finals Most Valuable Player accolade which he accepted happily before announcing that he would be calling it quits on his national career. The finals win of 93-85 rounded up Slovenia's 9-0 unbeaten campaign at the championships.
The title clearly means a lot as the president awarded one of the country's highest honors, the "Golden Order of Merits" to the team.
How it all went down
It was a big match feel at the Sinan Erdem Arena in Istanbul. An air of excitement and expectations covered the stadium as a lot of fans made their way to support their team. Early on, the contest was quite evenly contested before Dragic inspired the team to take control of the game. The 31-year-old was electric and played with very high intensity. In many ways, he looked a lot younger than his age. Dragic and Luca Doncic were like Batman and Robin as they partnered well to ensure their team would come away champions. Serbia showed a lot of fight in the third and final quarters of the contest and probably fancied their chances when Dragic limped off with severe cramps in the final quarter.
Doncic quietly went about his business to keep the team in charge of the game, and he found a fitting ally in Klemen Preplic along the way. The referees seemed quite adamant to allow the game to flow and didn't stop the game for every bit of contact that occurred.
Third Place match
Spain played Russia in the third-place playoff, and the scoreline was identical to the final.
In the end, Spain came away with the bronze medal on the back of solid performances by their sibling duo of Pau Gasol and Marc Gasol. The pair put up 26 and 25 points respectively in a contest that saw them win the first two-quarters but were considerably outscored in the second and third by the Russians. The team of the tournament was selected and featured Goran Dragic, Bojan Bogdanovic, Alexey Shved, Luca Doncic and Pau Gasol.
As expected, Dragic received a lot of praise and thanks on his way out. He was remarkable and very instrumental in Slovenia's campaign. His teammates took to Twitter to congratulate and praise "The Dragon." James Johnson, Hassan Whiteside and of course the official Miami Heat page were among those thanking and congratulating Goran. He could look back on a proud career for his national team. This gold medal is the icing on the cake; it just makes his retirement that much sweeter.
