European Championship: Portugal men s basketball team beats the Czech Republic, Celtics champion center Kota 23+18+4 hat dominance

On August 27, in the group stage of the 2025 Men's Basketball European Championship, the Portuguese Men's Basketball Team beat the Czech Men's Basketball Team 62-50 to a good start. The number one hero in the Portuguese men's basketball team's victory was Celtics champion Kota. He scored 11 of 15 efficiently and scored 23 points, 18 rebounds, 2 steals, and 4 blocks, with a large double-double dominating the inside.

The Portuguese men's basketball team is participating in the European Championships for the Men's Basketball Team again after 14 years. Their core is Celtic center Kota, who is one of the members of the Celtics' 2024 championship. After the Czech men's basketball team lacked Satoransky and Veselli, Hawks player Kreich led the team to this men's basketball European Championship.

The two sides have met in the past four official matches, both of which were defeated by the Portuguese men's basketball team. In this game, both sides started a low-score defensive battle. Both teams had less than 20 points in four quarters. The Portuguese men's basketball team continued to suppress the Czech men's basketball team, leading by 14 points at most.

The Portuguese men's basketball team led the Czech men's basketball team 13-10 in the first quarter, and the two sides maintained 19-19 in the second quarter, thus ending the first half, the Portuguese men's basketball team took a 32-29 lead. In the second half, the Portuguese men's basketball team won 2 points in the third quarter 13-11, and 7 points in the fourth quarter 17-10. In the end, the Portuguese men's basketball team defeated the Czech men's basketball team 62-50.

The Portuguese men's basketball team scored in double digits in the game, and the number one hero was Celtic center Kota. He made the highest team in this game at 30 minutes and 33 seconds, contributing a super high shooting star with 11 of 15 shots, including 1 of 1 three-pointer and 0 of 1 free throws. He efficiently scored 23 points, 18 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals, and 4 blocks. The big double-double data dominated the inside, with a plus-minus value of up to +21 on the court. In addition, Williams scored 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 steals, while Lisbon scored 3 three-pointers and 15 points.

In contrast, only one player in the Czech men's basketball team scored double-digit points, that is, Hawks player Kreić scored 10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, but he only had 2 of 8 shots, including 1 of 5 three-pointers and 5 of 5 free throws.

Kota dominated the inside with a double-double of 23+18+4 caps. With Porzingis and Horford leaving the Celtics in the new season, Kota is expected to be reused in the Celtics and become an important rotation player in the team's inside line.