#Luka Doncic leads Slovenia to its first Olympics semifinal

Germany’s Maodo Lo scanned the floor and saw Luka Doncic was driving inside, so Lo shifted into the paint and hastily planted his feet in preparation for a charge. Instead, Doncic Euro stepped into a floater, and Lo flopped. No foul was called.

“And one,” Doncic said while strolling back to defense.

Despite the debatable no-call, the Mavericks superstar led his native Slovenia to a 94-70 win over Germany, dropping 20 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.

After the win against Germany, Slovenia will go to its first-ever Olympic semifinals on Thursday. The Slovenians will compete against France, a team that defeated Team USA in a group stage matchup and is stacked with newly-signed Knicks wing Evan Fournier and Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, the NBA’s 2021 Defensive Player of the Year.

Doncic joined the Slovenian team in 2017 and helped them win gold at the 2017 Turkey EuroBasket. Nearly four years later, Doncic led the team in scoring during the Olympic group stage, with 28.3 points per game.

In his Olympic debut against Argentina, Doncic scored a herculean 48 points to carry Slovenia to its first win. He also narrowly missed a triple-double against Spain (12 points, 14 rebounds, 9 assists), something that hasn’t been done at the Olympics since LeBron James in 2012.

“We have, obviously, the best player in the world,” Slovenia coach Aleksander Sekulic told reporters.

As a two-time All-NBA First Team player, Doncic is a bonafide scoring and playmaking superstar within the Association. The 22-year-old is entering his fourth season in the NBA and is still on his rookie contract. According to reports, Doncic will sign a five-year, $200 million extension with Dallas, but only after the Olympics are over.