Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

EuroBasket 2025: Nikola Jokic’s Serbia Defeats Luka Doncic’s Slovenia in a Friendly

EuroBasket 2025 begins on August 27th.

Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic faced each other on Thursday in a friendly matchup between Slovenia and Serbia. It was the last friendly match for both teams in preparation for EuroBasket 2025. Despite expectations for great performances from the two NBA stars, the Slovenian point guard left a lot to be desired on the court and was surpassed by the Serbian pivot, who led his team to a 106-72 victory.

The Denver Nuggets star finished the game very close to a double-double, scoring 10 points with 100% field goal shooting (4/4), as well as eight rebounds and two assists in just 19 minutes.

🤯🇷🇸Serbia showed NO MERCY to Slovenia in a preparation game ahead of #Eurobasket pic.twitter.com/guLrEKHaWl
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) August 21, 2025

On the other side, Luka Doncic struggled to maintain offensive consistency and couldn’t compete with Serbia’s collective superiority. In one of his worst recent performances, the Los Angeles Lakers player recorded 17 points on 4-of-18 shooting, seven rebounds, four assists, and three turnovers in 27 minutes.

First-Quarter Surge Helps Serbia too Get Early Momentum

The game was practically decided in the first half. Serbia opened with a 10-0 run and won the first quarter 33-23. In the second quarter, a 16-5 run extended the lead to 21 points (49-28), and from that point on, Slovenia had no strength to mount a comeback.

Besides Jokic, other NBA players also stood out for the Serbian national team. Nikola Jovic of the Miami Heat scored 18 points, Bogdan Bogdanovic of the Los Angeles Clippers contributed 14 points, and Tristan Vukcevic of the Washington Wizards added 10.

Luka Doncic had a wholesome interaction with Nikola Jokic & his daughter, Ognjena, after Serbia beat Slovenia ❤️

Luka high-fived Ognjena & got a kiss from Jokic on the cheek.

Brothers for life! pic.twitter.com/61dDM4BfsX
— Courtside Buzz (@CourtsideBuzzX) August 21, 2025

With the victory, Serbia ended its preparations for EuroBasket 2025 undefeated, winning all seven friendlies and emerging as one of the favorites to win the tournament. Doncic’s Slovenia, meanwhile, has only won one of its six games, raising concerns ahead of the competition

EuroBasket 2025 begins on August 27th. Serbia will be in Group A, alongside hosts Latvia, Portugal, Estonia, Turkey, and the Czech Republic. Slovenia will face off in Group D, with Poland, Iceland, Belgium, Israel, and France.

Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Luka Doncic

Nikola Jokic

Gulshan Sharma

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A native of Jaipur, Rajasthan, journalist, and a complete soccer and basketball fan, he found the huge interest with basketball by watching videos of Allen Iverson and Tony Parker, but fell head over heels in love with the sport during the Warriors’ championship era (2015-2018). A sports game addict since his late PS1, he’s also passionate about the Eagles, Inter Miami and the Fever. He’s fortunate to have seen all his favorite teams win championships. He also has a special love for cricket and football (soccer), where he is a fan of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Barcelona.