NBA Fans React to Luka Doncic & Nikola Jokic’s Fates After 39-Point EuroBasket Games

ESPN might have pushed Luka Doncic’s rank to third in this year’s EuroBasket, but both Doncic and Nikola Jokic are widely regarded as two of the 15 best European basketball players of all time, at least according to BasketNews. And Orlando Magic star Franz Wagner summed it up well: “I think what makes them special is that they’re toughest to guard when they’re passing. But at the same time, they can pretty much score one-on-one every time.” Having already made a huge impact in the NBA over the past few years, the duo recently brought their talents to EuroBasket 2025 to represent their countries. While one of them hasn’t had as much team success, their individual performances are still winning over fans and dominating conversations online.

In the recent matchup against Team France, Luka Doncic helped Slovenia take a strong lead in the 1st half* (but ended up losing as the game progressed). He had scored 24* points through 4-9 Field Goals, 3-6 3-Pointers, and 13-14 Free Throws. On top of that, he had recorded 4 rebounds and 6 assists. This performance comes hours after the Slovenian became the first player in recorded EuroBasket history to total 30+ points, 5+ assists, and 5+ steals (even if it was on a losing cause). Luka’s dominance was on display, as he put out an impressive defense while guarding Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Zaccharie Risacher.

On the offensive front, he put out impressive feats. One of these included getting through a defense put out by Alex Sarr with one of Luka’s iconic step-back 3-pointers. As the crowd cheered, Luka even hit Sarr with the finger wag. Meanwhile, Nikola Jokic himself was helping Team Serbia take a lead during the squad’s recent matchup against Team Serbia. By halftime, the 3x NBA MVP had scored 19 points in 16 minutes. By the time he finished, the Serbian had recorded 39 points, having shot 15-26 Field Goals, 1-4 3-pointers, and 8-8 Free Throws. On top of that, Jokic also recorded 10 Rebounds (3 Off. Rebs), 4 Assists (3 TOV), 3 Steals, and 1 PF.

Despite the dominance of both players, Luka Doncic’s team ended up losing the matchup to France by a 95-103 score, even though Luka scored 39 points. Meanwhile, Jokic’s team continued their win streak by recording 84-80 against Latvia. Therefore, it wasn’t long before the netizens were sent into discussion mode.

NBA Fans React To Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic’s Recent Performances

One social media user gave his praise to Nikola Jokić, writing that “Nikola Jokic is damn demon outta there😮‍💨”. The recent matchup doesn’t mark the first time the Serbian has dominated at EuroBasket 2025. It was only in the previous matchup, against Portugal, when Jokic finished with 23 points in 23 minutes after making 8-of-10 shots from the field, with 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. By piling it together, he was able to create an efficiency rating of 35.

One individual wrote that “Whoever came up with the idea that Luka Dončič and Nikola Jokič play at the EuroBasket at the same time for the second game in a row deserves a slap 🤦‍♂️”.

Showing two dominant basketball players competing in different games at the same time is sure to take a hit on the ratings. At the same time, however, it also shows the different situations the two European players are dealing with right now. Both Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic scored 39 points each, but Serbia won the game by a 4-point margin, while Slovenia lost their game by an 8-point margin.

Serbia adds to its perfect win streak, having won 7 of their preparation games and all 3 of the main games. Meanwhile, the only matchup Slovenia has won in this tournament is a preparation game against Great Britain. Two players possessing a similar level of dominance, but quite far behind in leaving a mark together with their respective teams during EuroBasket 2025.

One social media user wrote, “Nikola Jokic – 39 – 10 – 4 against Latvia. Luka Doncic – 39 – 8 – 8 despite the loss to France. If we also look at the performances of Markkanen, Sengun and Giannis, we are talking about the absolute rhapsody of NBA Stars so far in Eurobasket!”.

Regardless of the different outcomes for both players, one cannot deny that they are creating EuroBasket history with their performances. According to reports, the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Lakers player scoring 39 points marks the FIRST time in the history of #EuroBasket that two players score 37+ points ON THE SAME DAY.

One individual wrote, “Luka Doncic’s pivot mastery is straight-up unguardable—EuroBasket defenders are learning the hard way. 34 points? Just another day dominating for the Mavs star. 🔥💯 #EuroBasket #LukaMagic”. Luka Doncic eventually went on to score 39 points, all while moving the ball back and forth to tackle the defense. While he made only 8-20 Field Goals, he also made 19-20 Free Throws. It was only a few days ago when the Slovenian had made 17 free throws to surpass the most made by any player in a EuroBasket game since 2005.

One social media user wrote “Nikola JOKIC supremacy”. The dominant performances, along with Team Serbia’s win streak, raise the team’s hope to reach the final stage of EuroBasket 2025 easily. Overall, the majority of reactions saw people united in giving praise to either Nikola Jokić, Luka Dončić, or both. For Luka Doncic, his spells of dominance won’t matter if the rest of the Team Slovenia squad doesn’t step up. Whether we see a miracle happen vis-à-vis Team Slovenia in the coming days is something that remains to be seen.