Israel, first victory at EuroBasket three days before facing France
After a challenging first half against a valiant Iceland team, Israel started their EuroBasket 2025 with a clear victory (83-71) in Katowice.
51 points for the Avdija – Sorkin duo
Led by their leader Deni Avdija (20 points on 5/12 shooting, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks for a 23 efficiency rating in 29 minutes), Ariel Beit-Halahmy’s team also relied on a dominant Roman Sorkin in the paint (31 points on 13/19 shooting and 5 rebounds for a 31 efficiency rating in 32 minutes). The Maccabi Tel-Aviv center made his presence felt against Iceland’s thin frontcourt, despite the presence of the giant and sturdy Tryggvi Hlinason (13 points on 4/7 shooting and 14 rebounds in 36 minutes), winner of the FIBA Europe 2025 with Bilbao.
The perfect Avdija & Sorkin connection doesn’t exis…😮💨😮💨#EuroBasket x @TherealIBBA pic.twitter.com/2jSpiOAslU
— FIBA EuroBasket (@EuroBasket) August 28, 2025
However, it wasn’t all easy for the Hebrew state. At halftime, the gap was still small (36-32) after a second quarter where both teams neutralized each other (13 each). Former Denain player Elvar Fridriksson was successful (17 points on 4/10 shooting and 8/9 free throws, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in 30 minutes) unlike the national star, Martin Hermannsson, held to 4 points on 2/14 shooting (with a +/- of -25). But after halftime, Israel went on a 9-0 run in 2 minutes against the islanders, following a basket by former Metropolitan Tomer Ginat (7 points on 3/8 shooting, 6 rebounds and 6 assists for a 14 efficiency rating in 29 minutes). This created a significant gap (45-32). The lead grew to +19 before the Icelanders came back to within 10 at the start of money time. However, this didn’t change the final outcome.
A must-not-lose Iceland – Belgium game on Saturday
Before facing the host country Poland on Saturday, then France the next day, Israel started their tournament well (20 assists, 11 turnovers) but still has room for improvement. As for the Icelanders, limited to 5/29 from 3-point range, they probably won’t have room for error in the fear match against Belgium.
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