Just a day before the beginning of EuroBasket, Latvian center Kristaps Porzingis, who plays for the Atlanta Hawks, spoke to the media about Latvia’s upcoming matchups against Turkey and Serbia. Specifically, he discussed Alperen Sengun and Nikola Jokic while addressing those two crucial games for Latvia in the first round.
“Jokic… This guy is probably No. 1 in the world. This is my opinion. 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,” said Porzingis while addressing Nikola Jokic and Serbia.
Jokic entered the NBA just one year before Porzingis, and the two players have clashed head-on ever since Porzingis was drafted in 2015. Therefore, after nearly a decade of competing against the Nuggets’ superstar and some other top talent in the world from the NBA, Porzingis’ opinion on who is the best in the world right now holds credibility.
The duo has faced each other 14 times in the NBA over the past decade, but never in the Playoffs. Jokic won 10 times while Porzingis emerged victorious only four times. Jokic averaged 24.7 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 6.5 assists over those games, while Porzingis averaged 20.8 points. 7.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game.
The only statistical advantage for Porzingis in that matchup has been that he has averaged more blocks (1.5) than Jokic (0.4). Serbia has won four of its last five games against Latvia, and hence, Latvia will need to push harder to change what history tells us about this matchup.
Porzingis also looked forward to facing Alperen Sengun, the 22-year-old Rockets’ All-Star, who will lead Turkey in their first EuroBasket matchup against Latvia.
“He’s a beast… 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.”
Considering how similar Sengun and Jokic’s style of play is, Latvia may have similar plans to stop both players. Jokic can space the floor better than Sengun; that is likely the only difference in their strategic approaches.
Sengun and Porzingis have met six times in the NBA over the past four seasons. Porzingis leads that matchup four games to two, but Sengun had much more impact on the games than Porzingis.
Porzingis averaged 18.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 0.5 steals, and 2.7 blocks per game against Sengun. Meanwhile, Sengun averaged 13.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.8 steals, and 0.5 blocks in those games.
Latvia is set to face Turkey in its first game of EuroBasket. Since 2017, Latvia has won four out of its five games against Turkey in men’s professional basketball. Therefore, while they are wary of Sengun in this matchup, history will be on their side.
