The Semi-Final pairings at FIBA EuroBasket 2022 were set on Wednesday night, following the completion of the Quarter-Finals.
France and Poland completed the field of the four remaining contenders, joining Spain and hosts Germany that had punched their respective tickets a day earlier.
The Semi-Final matchups are as follows:
Friday, September 16
Poland v France – 16:15 BST
Germany v Spain – 18:30 BST
Poland pulled off the biggest upset of the round by ending the title defenCe of FIBA EuroBasket 2017 champions Slovenia with a 90-87 win. Mateusz Pontika recorded an historic triple-double of 26 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists to instigate the victory that ushered Poland into the last four of the tournament for the first time since 1971, when it was also held in Germany.
In the other Wednesday game, France outlasted Italy 93-85 in overtime behind 20 points from Thomas Heurtel and a 19-point, 14-rebound double-double by Rudy Gobert.
On Tuesday, Spain claimed the first slot in the Semi-Finals after Willy Hernangomez scored 27 points to help them overturn a 15-point deficit and deny Finland 100-90.
Germany prevailed 107-96 over Greece in the most high-scoring battle of the Quarter-Finals, thanks to a 26-point effort by Dennis Schroder and a 13-point, 16-rebound double-double by Daniel Theis.
Poland and France will face off in the first Semi-Final on Friday, followed by the encounter between Germany and Spain.
Poland-France
Poland have won nine of their previous 16 meetings with France at the EuroBasket, however, they have lost the three times they faced each other in the competition in the 21st century, all three during preliminary rounds.
● Poland will play their 7th semi-final at the EuroBasket, losing five of their six, their only success at that stage being against Yugoslavia in 1963 (83-72); however, the last time they played a semi-final was in 1971 (L 75- 100 v Yugoslavia), this 51-year wait being the second biggest gap between two semi-finals played by a team at the EuroBasket, after Lithuania (58 years between 1937 and 1995).
● Poland have won their last two games but have not won three consecutive games in a single EuroBasket tournament since 1981 when they won four in a row; a win against France would be their 6th success in this EuroBasket, their best tally since 1967 (7 wins).
● France will play their 12th semi-final at the EuroBasket, winning only two of their previous 11 (2011 & 2013), their nine defeats at that stage being the most for a team in the competition; France have never scored 80+ points in a semi-final game at the EuroBasket.
● France have played an overtime in two EuroBasket games in a row for the first time in the competition; each of their last two semi-finals played at the EuroBasket, in 2013 & 2015 against Spain, went to overtime.
● Poland (7.7) and France (8.3) have allowed the fewest offensive rebounds per game to their opponents among all teams in this EuroBasket 2022; Poland have also conceded the fewest second-chance points per game than any team this year (5.4).
● Mateusz Ponitka became in his last game against Slovenia the first player to register a triple-double in an elimination game at the EuroBasket in the 21st century (26pts, 16reb, 10ast); he has scored 20+ points in each of his last two games, as often as in his previous 21 appearances in the competition.
● Thomas Heurtel has had six games with 7+ assists in this EuroBasket 2022, despite starting all of those games on the bench, a joint-high for a player in a single EuroBasket tournament in the last 25 years alongside Mantas Kalnietis in 2015 and Sergio Rodriguez in 2017; the only game he failed to record as many assists this year was the only one he played as a starter (3 assists v Lithuania).
Germany-Spain
Germany have won only two of their 13 meetings with Spain at the EuroBasket, with those two wins coming with margins of two points or fewer; however, Germany beat Spain the only previous time they faced each other in a semi-final, 74-73 in 2005.
● Germany will play their 4th semi-final at the EuroBasket, winning at that stage in 1993 against Greece and 2005 against Spain but losing in 2001 against Turkey; their three previous semi-finals ended with margins of three points or fewer with the most recent two ending with the narrowest margin (78-79 in 2001 & 74-73 in 2005).
● Germany have won six games at the EuroBasket 2022, their joint-best tally in a single edition of the tournament with 1993, the year of their lone title in the competition; Germany have also won their last three games in a row but have not won more in succession since a run of five wins in 2005.
● Spain will play their 17th semi-final at the EuroBasket, more than any other team, and have been present a that stage in each of the EuroBasket tournaments since 1999; they lost their semi-final in 2017 (72-92 v Slovenia) but haven’t lost consecutive appearances in semi-finals since 1985-1991 when they lost three in a row.
● Spain have now won 20 of their last 22 games in the EuroBasket, winning the last two despite trailing at half-time; they have scored 100+ points in three games this year, including in the last two, their best tally in a single edition of the tournament since 1987 when they did that in four games.
● Germany have scored 10+ 3-pointers in six of their seven games at the EuroBasket 2022, a joint-most alongside Italy (also this year) in a single edition of the tournament over the last 25 years; their average of 12.9 3-pointers made per game this year are also the best among the teams with more than five games played in a single edition of the tournament in the last 25 years.
● Dennis Schroder has made 20+ points and 5+ assists in 10 EuroBasket games, the most of any player since 1995, and he has scored more than 20 points and made exactly eight assists in each of his four elimination games played in the tournament; Schroder has scored more than 25 points and made at least seven assists in each of his previous two encounters with Spain at the EuroBasket but lost both those games (2015 and 2017).
● Willy Hernangomez has scored 20+ points in each of his last two EuroBasket games after never reaching that mark in any of his previous 20 games in the competition; he is averaging the most points per game this year among the players yet to score a single 3-pointers (17.9 per game).
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