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Kristaps Porzingis goes off for 34 points, 19 rebounds as Latvia is eliminated by Lithuania
The Lithuanian national team joined Turkey and Germany in the 2025 EuroBasket quarterfinals after defeating hosts Latvia in Riga. Led by Arnas Velicka’s heroics, Rimas Kurtinaitis’ side prevailed 88-79 at the Xiaomi Arena, eliminating the home team despite Kristaps Porzingis’ standout night. Velicka delivered an outstanding performance in the absence of the injured Rokas Jokubaitis, orchestrating Lithuania’s offense and closing the Baltic derby with 21 points, 12 assists, and five rebounds. Azoulas Tubelis added another double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Deividas Sirvydis had his best EuroBasket showing, contributing 18 points. Interestingly, Jonas Valanciunas logged fewer than 10 minutes but still managed to score nine points. On the other side, Porzingis had a monster game with 34 points and 19 rebounds for a PIR of 39, before fouling out in the final minutes. Only Arvydas Sabonis (23 v Greece in 1995) and his fellow countryman Andris Biedrins (20 v France in 2009) have grabbed more in a single EuroBasket game over the last 30 years.
Kristaps Porzingis believes Neemias Queta is ready for a more prominent role in the Celtics’ frontcourt. But should Queta start for a Boston team that lost its top three centers this offseason? On that, Porzingis sounded less sure. “Starter? Good question,” the ex-Celtics big man told reporters Monday after squaring off against Queta in a group-stage game at EuroBasket 2025. “Who else is there? I don’t know. I haven’t thought about their roster, honestly, too deep.”
“What I will say is Neemi has been getting better each year, and Coach Mazzulla has been pretty tough on him,” Porzingis told reporters. “I believe that he’s getting to a point where he deserves some real minutes, some real rotation minutes. He’s been putting in the work, and you can see how he’s playing now in the tournament. I’m happy for Neemi. He’s a great, great dude, really cool person, and puts in the time, puts in the work. I’ll be happy to see him getting a lot more minutes this year.”
Kristaps Porzingis has 21 points and nine rebounds as Latvia defeats Portugal
Latvia got back on track at EuroBasket 2025 with a much-needed 78-62 win over Portugal, improving to 2-2 in Group B. Kristaps Porzingis was the story of the night: after a frustrating shooting drought, he hit his first three-pointer and never looked back, leading a 27-7 second quarter that decided the game. The Latvian star finished with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and a block in 26 minutes, while Latvia’s ball movement was superb, with 14 assists on their first 17 field goals and 11-of-21 from deep in the first half. Portugal struggled to keep up, relying mostly on Neemias Queta’s 16 points and 7 boards.
Kevin Chouinard: Final: Serbia 84, Latvia 80 Latvia's big comeback effort fell short. Porzingis: 14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks pic.x.com/M2wNPQjeVy
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After trailing for almost 28 minutes, Latvia turned the tables and went on to defeat Estonia, 72-70, on Friday. The reverse was followed by both Baltic countries falling short of scoring until the sixth minute of the final quarter. Only two points, behind a goaltending violation, over the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter. From an unprecedented drought to Kristaps Porzingis sinking clutch buckets to send his side to 1-1 in EuroBasket 2025. Also navigating foul trouble, the 30-year-old big of the Atlanta Hawks tallied 26 points, including eight out of a team total of nine points in the last ten minutes.
Cedi Osman dropped a game-high 20 points behind 6/10 field goals, including four triples in Riga. His 11 points in the third period propelled Turkiye to a safe distance. After paving the way with 13 points in the first half, Kenan Sipahi ended up with 19 points, making all of his six attempts from the field, including five shots from beyond the arc. Lasting nearly 28 minutes, the 30-year-old guard also recorded four rebounds and three assists. Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun added 16 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, one block, and one steal. The fourth double-digit scoring contribution belonged to Shane Larkin with 15 points.
Kristaps Porzingis declares Nikola Jokic the No. 1 player in the world
Latvia superstar Kristaps Porzingis will face two NBA All-Star big men just during the first face of the EuroBasket that begins Wednesday (27/9): Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic and Houston Rockets’ Alperen Sengun. “Jokic… This guy is probably No. 1 in the world. This is my opinion,” Jokic said on the eve of the EuroBasket. “It’s going to be a tough-tough challenge for us. We still have Turkey and Estonia first and then Serbia. We have a little bit of time. We aren’t focused on Serbia yet but we’re going to have our hands full.”
In the EuroBasket opening day, Latvia, the host of Group A, will play against Turkey and Porzingis will clash against Sengun. “He’s a beast,” Porzingis said on Sengun. “He’s a great player. He’s been better with each year. We have a challenge in front of us. His passing ability, his talent offensively…. we’re going to have our hands full. It’s going to take a team effort.”
Porzingis is unsure on whether this is the best Latvian team of the last couple of years. “It’s always like recency bias, you want to be like, yeah, yeah, we’re the best, but there’s been always some good players, high level players, your league players. You know, at one point we had 5 NBA guys, you know, so now it’s only 1, you know, but, but of course we have a, we have a talented and experienced team and we have the young guy like Zagars coming up also. We have a bunch of guys who are really good and didn’t make the roster but they’re going to be really good.”
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Kristaps Porzingis doesn't rule out returning to play in Europe
But as he spoke afterward, Porzingis wasn’t simply analyzing the loss. Between acknowledging Giannis’ dominance and looking ahead to EuroBasket, the Atlanta Hawks big man dropped the kind of line that makes fans in Europe sit up straighter: a return across the Atlantic might one day be on his horizon. “Sure, sure, why not?” he said when asked by BasketNews if he could see himself playing in Europe again. “I mean, I haven’t really given it too much thought, but just seeing some of the clubs here in Greece, you know, the atmosphere here for the games and stuff would be a really, really unbelievable atmosphere to play in.”
Pressed on whether Greece might be a priority destination, he smiled. “Possibly, possibly, but I would have to look at everything and… and who knows, who knows. I love the fans here and I love the rivalry they have here, so who knows.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo goes off for 25 and 10 as Greece blows out Latvia, Porzingis held to seven points
Giannis Antetokounmpo made a strong summer debut with 25 points and 10 rebounds as the Greece beat Latvia 104 – 86 in the opener of the Acropolis Tournament ahead of the EuroBasket. This was the top performance from the Greek side during training camp games, fueled by Antetokounmpo’s presence. The Greek Freak was particularly impressive in the first half with 20 points (8-9 shots) in 10:20 minutes as his team went to the locker room with a 61 – 45 advantage. Giannoulis Larentzakis had 3-3 triples in the third period, ultimately finishing with 14. Overall Greece had 14 – 26 from beyond the arc. Latvia improved after the break but never managed to catch up with Greece. Rihards Lomazs stood out from the Latvian team with 17 points, five rebounds and five assists while Arturs Kurucs scored 12 points. Kristaps Porzingis was held to seven points (0-4 triples) in 17 minutes.
Kristaps Porzingis says intensity of EuroBasket similar to NBA playoffs or Finals, higher than regular season
Latvia superstar Kristaps Porzingis compared the intensity of the EuroBasket to other tournaments when it comes to the intensity of the competition and a certain focus that is required by the players. “I know the answer everyone expects is ‘the intensity is insane.’ It is, don’t get me wrong. But also so are the NBA Finals or the NBA playoffs,” Porzingis said. “Obviously, the regular season is a bit different. It [the EuroBasket] is probably more similar to the EuroLeague. Where every game is life and death. But that’s not to say that other games don’t have the same intensity.” “It is fun to play in that kind of environment. Every possession matters. And this is why it’s so fun for us as players and the fans,” Porzingis added.
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