When Greece went into the halftime break leading 39-43 in its first second-round game against Lithuania at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, Dimitris Itoudis's team seemed to in the ascendancy. However, a highly impressive second-half comeback – led by FC Barcelona's Rokas Jokubaitis and Zalgiris Kaunas's Ignas Brazdeikis – saw Lithuania turn things around and run out comfortable winners, 92-67.
As a result of this victory, Lithuania has improved to a 4-0 record and secured its qualification to the final phase of the World Cup. While Thomas Walkup of Greece and Olympiacos Piraeus looked set to earn all the plaudits following a dominant first half, in which he posted 15 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, it was two other Turkish Airlines EuroLeague players in Jokubaitis and Brazdeikis who stole the show.
After 20 minutes of play, Jokubaitis had 11 points and 3 assists to his name, as well as 2 steals. Brazdeikis, meanwhile, had 9 points on perfect shooting, having gone 3-for-3 on two-pointers and 1-for-1 from three-point land. By the end of the contest, Jokubaitis had a team-high 17 points, in addition to 4 assists and 2 steals, while Brazdeikis recorded 15 points – still on perfect shooting – and also brought down 3 rebounds.
