Who says a light-on-muscle 19-year-old big man cannot make an impact against grown men?
Toronto Raptors draft pick Jonas Valanciunas had a huge game on Wednesday, helping host Lithuania beat Serbia 100-90 at Eurobasket, the tournament that will help determine Europe's competitors in next year's London Olympics. Valanciunas, playing against the likes of NBA veteran Nenad Krstic, scored 18 points in 20 minutes. He also added five rebounds and a pair of blocks.
Valanciunas hit eight of his nine field-goal attempts.
Lithuania has leaned on Valanciunas, who was the MVP of the under-19 world championship in July, more and more as Eurobasket has progressed. He is averaging 9.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in just 17 minutes per game as Lithuania has a 2-1 record in the second round, behind just France.
The Raptors made Valanciunas the fifth-overall pick in June's NBA Draft.
He will not play with the Raptors until the 2012-13 season, because of an existing contract with his European club.
