Dončić's historic EuroBasket triple-double lifts Slovenia over Belgium

Luka Dončić delivered a historic individual performance that kept Slovenia’s EuroBasket hopes alive on Sunday, posting a 26-point, 10-rebound, 11-assist tripledouble to lead his country to an 86-69 victory over Belgium in Katowice, Poland. The outing came a day after Dončić had poured in 39 points in a loss to France and followed an opening defeat to Poland, leaving Slovenia 1-2 in Group D but still alive for the knockout round.

Dončić’s tripledouble, achieved in 30 minutes, pushed him into rarefied FIBA company. Tournament records show it as only the fourth tripledouble at EuroBasket since 1995; some outlets counted it as the fifth in the competition’s longer history. The 26-year-old also became the youngest player since Tony Parker in 2007 to reach 400 career EuroBasket points, doing so amid heavy usage and a thin Slovenian roster missing several veterans.

The victory provided a much-needed response after Slovenia’s back-to-back losses. Dončić had scored 34 points in the opener against Poland and 39 against France, but those individual eruptions were not enough as Slovenia surrendered late leads in both games. Coaches, players and fans also found themselves embroiled in...