Phoenix Suns: Super Dario not so super in Eurobasket opener

The Phoenix Suns would have been happy to see Dario Saric on the floor again in a truly competitive setting, even if his production was less than ideal in Croatia’s opening game of Eurobasket 2022.

Coming up against a Greek team led by two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, Saric and the Croatians were always going to face an uphill battle despite their own range of NBA level talent.

Phoenix Suns big man Dario Saric struggled in his opening game of Eurobasket 2022, going scoreless in an 89-85 loss to Greece.

Saric started at the power-forward position, with Croatia scoring the opening seven points to jump out of the blocks. That was where the positives finished for the first half as Greece opened up a 16-point lead at half time.

Croatia chiseled away at Greece’s lead in the second half, but Antetokounmpo ultimately came up too strong with some huge plays to seal the game. The Bucks superstar was inefficient from the field by his lofty standards, yet still stuffed the stat sheet with 27 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOEfydEIXHE

On the other hand, Saric failed to have the desired impact to lift his team to a win. The 28-year-old missed all six of his field-goal attempts, five of which came from three-point range. He had just three rebounds, two assists and a steal in just under 21 minutes of action.

Saric was one of only two starters, along with Mario Hezonja, to have a negative plus-minus. Bojan Bogdanovic, a potential trade target of the Suns, had 19 points and seven rebounds on 7-for-12 shooting.

This is ultimately another step in Saric’s recovery from a serious knee injury, with each game back providing a tick in his rehabilitation process.