MVP Dragic scores 35 as Slovenia wins tourney

Miami Heat guard Goran Dragic punctuated Slovenia’s run to its first EuroBasket championship with a 35-point performance Sunday in a 93-85 victory over Serbia in the title game in Istanbul, Turkey, watching the closing stages from the bench due to cramps.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” he said of what quickly turned into a national celebration in his country of two million.

Sealing his Most Valuable Player run in the tournament, Dragic scored 20 points in the second period (which are 10 minutes in international competition) to help push his team to a nine-point lead at the intermission.

“I mean, it’s an unbelievable feeling,” Dragic said of his second-quarter binge. “Of course you want to play well in the final.

“They put me in the right positions so I can attack and be myself.”

Dragic closed 12 of 22 from the field, with seven rebounds and three assists, converting three 3-pointers.

“The second half, cramps,” Dragic said of the treatment he took on the bench.

Slovenia coach Igor Kokoskov, an assistant with the Utah Jazz, said his only option at the end was to turn elsewhere after Dragic positioned his team for the victory.

“He couldn’t play for a quarter,” Kokoskov said. “He was cramping on the side, he was laying on the floor. It wasn’t my decision, it was just the body. His body was quitting on Goran.”

The 35 points are the most by a Slovenian player in international competition.

The lone active NBA player on Slovenia’s roster, Dragic nearly single-handedly fended off a Serbia roster that includes NBA players Bogdan Bogdanovic and Boban Marjanovic.

Dragic, 31, announced on the eve of the tournament that this would be his final international competition.

Asked if he would attempt to convince Dragic to stay on with the national team, Kokoskov said, “We didn’t have a chance to talk about it. At this point, we’re just going to enjoy the moment.”

Dragic said he would, though, attempt to keep Kokoskov, a Serb who has become a U.S. citizen, with the Slovenian national team. Over the course of the tournament, Dragic averaged 22.6 points, 5.1 assists and 4.4 rebounds in the 40-minute games, shooting .385 on 3-pointers and .844 from the line.

“I congratulate him personally on the MVP. That’s well deserved,” Serbia coach Aleksandar Dorevic said.

Dragic was supported in the run to the perfect 9-0 record in three-week event by former NBA forward Anthony Randolph and 18-year-old prodigy Luka Doncic, a potential No. 1 pick in June’s NBA draft.

“An unbelievable day for Slovenia basketball,” Kokoskov said, with an estimated 6,000 Slovenia fans in the arena. “All the glories go to the players.

“I hope these guys made a nation proud like they made me proud.”