Through one half of play on Wednesday against Iceland in the final group stage game for Finland at EuroBasket 2017, Chicago Bulls rookie Lauri Markkanen had only logged 7:30 of game time. It took a Sasu Salin half-court prayer at the first half buzzer to give Finland a lead.
The third quarter didn’t really change much for Finland after some more second quarter struggles in the tournament, resulting in just 10 points in the quarter and trailing 59-52 after three quarters of play to the Icelanders.
Then, the Finns woke up. Salin continued to shoot the lights out of the arena, going 5-for-8 from the 3-point line on the day and Finland clawed right back into the game as crunch time approached.