Defending champion Spain is already out. That means a new EuroBasket champion will be crowned in a few days.
And there are plenty of candidates.
Reigning World Cup champion Germany, Olympic silver medalist France, Olympic bronze medalist Serbia and unbeaten Turkey are perhaps the headliners in the field of 16 teams that remain in the hunt for the European title.
Among others still in the mix: Luka Doncic and Slovenia, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece, an upstart team from Israel and host Latvia — which has neighbor Lithuania awaiting this weekend.
“We didn’t come here to win a group,” said Turkey guard Shane Larkin, the former University of Miami standout. “We came here to win a medal. ... We have a lot more work to do.”
Sergio Scariolo, after his tenure as Spain's coach ended with a group-stage loss Thursday, was asked about the rest of the tournament and he quickly reeled off a half-dozen teams that he would consider favorites.
Yes, it does seem that wide-open.
“Serbia, Turkey, Greece, Germany, France, Slovenia ... I said five or six,” Scariolo said. “For sure, among those, the European champion will come out.”
Group stage recap
The tournament started with 24 teams, and 16 advanced to Riga, Latvia for the knockout stage that starts on Saturday.
Group A saw Turkey (5-0), Serbia (4-1), Latvia (3-2) and Portugal (2-3) advance, while Estonia (1-4) and Czechia (0-5) were eliminated.
Group B had Germany (5-0), Lithuania (4-1), Finland (3-2) and Sweden (1-4) moving on, while Montenegro (1-4) and Great Britain (1-4) fell short.
In Group C, it was Greece (4-1), Italy (4-1), Bosnia and Herzegovina (3-2) and Georgia (2-3) advancing, with Spain (2-3) and Cyprus (0-5) ousted.
And in Group D, France (4-1), Poland (3-2), Slovenia (3-2) and Israel (3-2) advanced, with Belgium (2-3) and Iceland (0-5) out.
Round of 16 matchups
Saturday’s games — Turkey vs. Sweden, Germany vs. Portugal, Lithuania vs. Latvia, Serbia vs. Finland.
Sunday’s games — Poland vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina, France vs. Georgia, Italy vs. Slovenia, Greece vs. Israel.
In the quarterfinals, the Lithuania-Latvia winner will play the Greece-Israel winner, the Turkey-Sweden winner will play the Poland-Bosnia and Herzegovina winner; the Germany-Portugal winner will play the Italy-Slovenia winner, and the Serbia-Finland winner will get the France-Georgia winner.
That means it's not possible that Serbia and France — both medal-winning teams behind the U.S. at the Paris Olympics last summer — to both medal at EuroBasket. At least one of them will be ousted before the semifinals.
The NBA impact
Not surprisingly, NBA stars are making a huge impact on EuroBasket with all the expected names — the likes of Doncic, Antetokounmpo, Serbia's Nikola Jokic, Turkey's Alperen Sengun and Finland's Lauri Markkanen — showing up and putting up big numbers on their home continent.
Doncic leads all scorers, averaging 33.4 points per game (along with a tournament-best 42 assists). Antetokounmpo is averaging 27.7 points, Markkanen is averaging 25.4.
There are four players shooting better than 65% in the tournament — Antetokounmpo (69.6%), Lithuania's Jonas Valanciunas (66%), Sengun (65.6%) and Jokic (65.5%).
Want a breakout performance? Try Israel's Deni Avdija, who is averaging 24.4 points and led his team through the group stage, with hopes of delivering the country's first EuroBasket medal since winning silver in 1979.
The picks
Round of 16 winners: Latvia, Greece, Turkey, Poland, Germany, Italy, Serbia, France.
Quarterfinal winners: Latvia, Turkey, Germany, Serbia.
Semifinal winners: Latvia, Serbia.
Bronze medal game: Germany over Turkey.
Gold medal game: Serbia over Latvia.
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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
