MIAMI — Despite a 22-point effort from Simone Fontecchio, the Miami Heat’s hopes of having a player advance to the medal round of EuroBasket were dashed Sunday when Fontecchio and Italy fell 84-77 to Slovenia in Riga, Latvia.
A day after Heat forward Nikola Jovic was eliminated with Serbia’s 92-88 upset loss to Finland and Heat guard Pelle Larsson was eliminated with Sweden’s 85-79 surprisingly competitive loss to Turkey, Fontecchio found himself as the last Heat man standing at Europe’s continental championships.
Acquired from the Detroit Pistons in the July trade that sent out Duncan Robinson, a move primarily made because of the savings netted by the Heat against the luxury tax, Fontecchio completed his EuroBasket run by shooting 8 of 15 from the field Sunday, including 4 of 10 on 3-pointers.
Ultimately that did not prove to be enough against the 42-point effort for Slovenia from Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic.
Fontecchio ended Italy’s two-week run at EuroBasket averaging 15.6 points on .410 shooting.
Of the three losses for Heat players over the weekend, the most surprising was the ouster of tournament favorite Serbia. That had Jovic ending the tournament with a 12.8 scoring average, second on his team only behind Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic. Jovic shot .600 over his six EuroBasket appearances, including .542 on 3-pointers.
In the end, Jovic, 22, exited as if he let his team down.
“We didn’t come to the game ready, it starts from me as the youngest one. I was not ready from the jump,” he said of Saturday’s loss. “As the Coach said, they got 20 offensive rebounds, which is unacceptable. We were prepared well, we watched the film, but they were more physical than us. They simply had more shots. They are more aggressive, more humble, so what else can I say?”
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Larsson, who helped Sweden advance to the knockout round of EuroBasket for the first time, averaged a team-high 18.8 points over his five appearances. But while he shot .455 overall, he shot only .258 on 3-pointers, an area of concern when it comes to his Heat role.
Jovic and Larsson are both expected to compete for Heat rotation roles as the team attempts to bounce back from last season’s 37-45 finish and first-round playoff elimination. Fontecchio is more of a rotation wildcard, although his shooting could move him up Erik Spoelstra’s hierarchy.
Heat players have already begun training at Kaseya Center, with the team to hold its annual media day there on Sept. 29, followed by four days of training camp in Boca Raton at Florida Atlantic University.
The Heat open their preseason Oct. 4 against the Orlando Magic in Puerto Rico, with their regular-season schedule opening Oct. 22 in Orlando.
