FanShot

Batum Goes Off, Injures Head As France Beats Serbia In EuroBasket

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Portland Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum and France defeated Serbia in overtime, 97-96, in their fifth EuroBasket Group B game in Lithuania on Monday. The win gives France the No. 1 seed in Group B with a record of 5-0; Their win over Italy on Sunday had already assured their advancement to the next round of the tournament. France finishes the group play round as one of only two teams -- along with Russia -- to remain undefeated. Here's a boxscore. Here's video of a nifty Batum dunk off a cut and hand off via YouTube user nbainfos. Batum had his head bashed on the floor during the second half and wound up wearing a fairly dramatic head wrap when he returned to the court. Picture courtesy of Sebastian Pruiti of NBAPlaybook.com. EuroBasket.com quotes Batum talking about playing through the pain. ----------------------------- Serbia's Milos Teodosic reached in and was called for an unsportsmanlike foul on Nicolas Batum. It was Teodosic's fifth foul and he exited the game but Batum, who had to wear a head dressing over an open cut beside his right eye after a nasty fall, missed both free-throws. ... Neither side was short of heroes in this spectacular game, with Nicolas Batum scoring 18 points on some of the most explosive moves ever seen at a EuroBasket. In another game, Batum might have come out because he needed stitches. "I said, 'No stitches during the game,' Batum said. "I don't want to come out this game." ----------------------------- Batum finished with 18 points, five rebounds, two assists, four steals and two blocks in 40 minutes on 7-for-12 shooting. San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker bounced back from a thigh injury to lead France with 24 points, two assists and six steals. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter