Spain loses to Latvia following Ricky Rubio’s return to the national team | Basketball | Sports

The Spanish basketball team made its debut in the qualifying phase for Eurobasket 2025 with a defeat against Latvia (75-79). Beyond the result, the highlight of the match was Ricky Rubio’s return to the national team after six and a half months without playing, a period the Catalan player dedicated to resolving his mental health issues.

Rubio played a total of 20 minutes, during which he managed to score eleven points, grab one rebound and score eleven assists. The Catalan leader was part of the starting quintet, alongside Xabi López-Arostegui, Juancho Hernangómez, Joel Parra and Jaime Pradilla, and took charge of the team from the start, before being replaced by Alberto Díaz in the second period of the first. quarter.

He later returned to the court with just over four minutes remaining in the half and led his team again, providing three more assists, two of which ended with two dunks from teammate Jaime Pradilla. And then Rubio scored his first two points in the final minute of the first half from the free throw line.

His field goal drought continued for the first five minutes of the second half, and after picking up his third foul, he sat on the bench again. Finally, Rubio returned to the court to participate in the final five minutes of the game, with the score 64-66, when he scored his first basket of the game, arriving with two minutes remaining with a front shot. . His only three-pointer came when Spain needed it most, but he couldn’t complete his comeback when he missed the free throw line.

“I feel incredible, the truth is that we missed him a lot. The atmosphere is spectacular and young people with a lot of talent are coming too,” said Rubio after the match. The Barça player, now 33 years old, signed for the Catalan team on February 6, with a contract until the end of the season. Thus, he began training under the orders of Roger Grimau, but without yet playing a single match upon his return to the club where he played before landing in the NBA.

With this defeat, the Spanish team begins its journey to Eurobasket 2025 with a stumble, but the alarms have not yet gone off. Sergio Scariolo’s team still has commitments ahead of it, in which two places will be fought over and will be distributed between three teams: Spain, Belgium and Slovakia. The national team’s next match will be against the Belgian team, next Sunday February 25, in Charleroi.

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