Lauri Markkanen has been preparing to play for Finland in the FIBA EuroBasket 2025 tournament, and the Utah Jazz star appears to be in peak form.
Markkanen and Finland played their third EuroBasket prep exhibition game on Saturday and beat Poland 97-88. Markkanen scored 42 points and had 12 rebounds in just 24 minutes of action.
The stat line has been the standard for Markkanen thus far. Though the games technically do not count, Markkanen has been posting some truly insane numbers. He has averaged 40.3 points per game on 68.8% shooting across the three contests. Markkanen has shot an absurd 53.8% from three-point range.
Lauri Markkanen is averaging 40.3 PPG on 68.6% FG, 53.8% 3PT in EuroBasket exhibition games:
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 17, 2025
42 PTS, 12 REB, 3 3PM
31 PTS, 5 REB, 4 3PM
48 PTS, 9 REB, 7 3PM
(h/t @UnderdogNBA ) pic.twitter.com/53RlT9lr8t
Finland has never finished better than sixth place in EuroBasket, but they have a chance to make a run if Markkanen continues to shoot the way he has ahead of the tournament.
Markkanen was limited to 47 games with the Jazz last season due to injuries. He averaged 19.0 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, which was down from the 23.5 points and 8.2 rebounds he averaged the year before. The 28-year-old had been the subject of trade rumors before signing a massive extension with Utah last summer.
EuroBasket is set to begin on Aug. 27. Finland’s opponents are going to have their hands full trying to slow down Markkanen.
