Knicks Forward, France Fall to Israel in EuroBasket Upset

Current Portland Trail Blazer Deni Avdija had 23 points on 7-of-10 from the field to go with eight rebounds and five steals. Most of his damage was done in a damning fourth quarter, which saw the Israelis more than double up the French by a 27-13 tally to complete the erasure of a double-figure deficit. Israel (2-1) is seeking its first EuroBasket medal since a runner-up finish back in 1979.

Yabusele, set to enter his first year as a Knick, did most of his damage in the early going, helping out on the opening points of the ball game for Mouhammadou Jaiteh before earning a highlight amidst early offensive struggles with an emphatic block of Yovel Zoosman.

But the French (2-1) were unable to keep the early momentum rolling, going just 25 percent (8-of-32) from three-point range.

Sylvain Francisco, the hero in the prior game against Slovenia was held to but 1-of-8 from the field in defeat while Les Bleus also lost 14 turnovers and the rebounding battle by nine. Yabusele did manage to somewhat salvage the late scoring issues with a three that helped the French keep at least something of a pace in the tiebreaker battle, which relies on point tallies when head-to-head is not applicable.

With France's loss, host nation Poland is the only team left undefeated in Group D pending their own Sunday showdown against Iceland. Yabusele and the French will get a somewhat-extended opportunity to recover from the Israeli mastery before facing the Polish on Tuesday (3:30 p.m. ET, DAZN/Courtside 1891).