For the Latvian national team, Rihards Lomažs scored 16 points, Artūrs Žagars 11 points, and Kristaps Porziņģis, who also committed six fouls, and Rolands Šmits each scored ten points.

For the Turks, Cedi Osman scored 20 points, Kenan Sipahi scored 19 points, who hit all five long-range shots, Alperen Shengin had 16 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and five turnovers, and Shane Larkin had 15 points and six rebounds.

The Latvian team made 34% (13/38) of their long-range shots, while the opponents made 60% (15/25). The Turkish team also won the battle under the baskets (40:23), grabbing 12 rebounds on offense.

The 15 long-range shots made by Turkey in the match are a new national team record. The previous record was 14 long-range shots made against France in the 2022 finals.

The match started with a shot won by Porzingis, but the ball ended up in the hands of Ercan Osmani, who hit it into the basket from above, giving Turkey a 2-0 lead.

Rolands Schmidt made it 3:2 with a three-pointer, but the Turks responded with 11 unanswered points, giving the Turkish team a 13:3 lead after a two-pointer by Cedi Osman.

Schmidt stopped the Turkish breakthrough with a long shot, making the score 6:13, but the Turks reached their largest lead after four free throws - 24:10.

The Latvians ended the quarter with an 11:0 run, closing the quarter with a two-point shot by Rihards Lomažs in the last second, bringing the score to 21:24.

After a long-range shot by Furkan Korkmaz, the Turks again achieved a ten-point lead - 32:22, but the Latvian team, which emphasized long-range shots, closed the gap to 33:37 after three three-point shots made by Artūrs Žagars.

After a long shot by Dairas Bertans, the home team came close to a three-point deficit - 39:42, but at the end of the half, Šmits earned his third personal point, and the Turks finished the half with five more points scored.

The Turks continued their lead early in the second half, leading 51:39 after two baskets by Alperen Shengin.

Porzingis made a three-pointer, drawing Osmani's fourth foul, but Žagars left the court midway through the third quarter, addressing the team's medical staff, and never returned.

As both teams continued to score points with three-point shots, the score difference fluctuated around the ten-point mark for a long time, but after Shane Larkin's two-point shot, the Turks had made a seven-point breakthrough, achieving an 18-point lead - 67:49.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, Kenan Sipahi gave the Turks a 20-point lead for the first time (75:55) by making a long-range shot.

Osmani immediately received his fifth personal warning against Porzingis on offense, but the Turkish team, by shooting long shots well and fighting for rebounds on offense, managed to increase the lead to 88:62 after a long shot by Shehmus Hadzer.

At the end of the game, the home team managed to slightly reduce the point deficit.

It has already been reported that in the first Group A game in Riga on Wednesday, the Portuguese basketball players defeated the Czech Republic 62:50. In the last game of the day in Riga at 21:15, Serbia will meet Estonia.

In Group B, Lithuania defeated Great Britain 94:70 in Tampere, Finland on Wednesday, while world champion Germany defeated Montenegro 106:76. The home team will face Sweden in the final match in Finland at 8:30 p.m.

The Latvian national team won two and lost three times in the test matches before the championship. First, the national team lost to Italy in Trieste with 75:91, but in the test matches at home they lost to Lithuania with 105:109 in overtime and defeated Slovenia with 100:88. In Athens they lost to Greece with 86:104, but defeated Italy with 83:68.

In the test matches, the Turks lost to Lithuania 70:91, to World Cup winner Germany 71:73, defeated the Czech Republic 79:65, Lithuania 84:81, and Montenegro 96:85.

The Latvian national team did not qualify for the 2022 European Championship final tournament, finishing last in the qualifying group with one win behind Bosnia, Greece and Bulgaria.

The Turks finished second in Group A behind eventual champions Spain in the 2022 finals, but lost to eventual finalist France 86:87 in overtime in the round of 16.

The Latvian national team won the European Championship in 1935 and won silver medals in 1939, but after regaining independence, their greatest success was their fifth place finish in 2017.

The Turkish national team's greatest success at the European Championships is the silver medal they won on home soil in 2001.

For the Latvian national team, the final tournament went to Rodion Kurucs, Artūrs Strautiņš, Aigars Šķēles and Mārtiņš Laks due to injury.

Kristaps Ķilps, Toms Skuja and Kārlis Šiliņš were the last to be removed from the list of candidates, but during the preparation stage, Ojārs Siliņš, Artis Ate, Verners Kohs, Rodijs Mačoha, Toms Leimanis, Anrijs Miška, Ričards Vanags and Jānis Jīnemanis were also among the candidates. Anžejs Pasečņiks, Roberts Blumbergs and Ingus Jakovičs were not included in the expanded list of candidates.

Head coach Lukas Bankis is assisted by coaches Jānis Gailītis, Artūrs Visockis-Rubenis, Žanis Peiners and Dāvis Čoders, as well as physical training coach Oskars Ernšteins, on the Latvian national team.

In the European Championship final tournament, 24 teams will play in four groups in late August and early September in Riga, Tampere, Katowice and Limassol.

The Latvian national team will play against Estonia in Group A in Riga on August 29, against Serbia on August 30, against Portugal on September 1, and against the Czech Republic on September 3.

The top four teams from each group will qualify for the playoff tournament in Riga, with the medal winners determined in the first half of September.

Group B will feature Germany, Finland, Great Britain, Lithuania, Sweden and Montenegro in the Finnish city of Tampere, and it is with the teams from this group that the teams from Group A will play in the round of 16.

Cyprus, Italy, Georgia, Spain, Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina will meet in Group C in the Cypriot city of Limassol, while Group D in the Polish city of Katowice will also feature Iceland, France, Slovenia, Belgium and Israel in addition to the hosts.

Latvian national team lineup:

Marek Mejeris (Cluj-Napoca U-BT, Romania), Kristaps Porzingis (Atlanta Hawks, USA), Dāvis Bertāns ("Dubai", UAE), Dairis Bertāns ("VEF Riga"), Rolands Šmits (Istanbul Anadolu Efes, Turkey), Klāvs Čavars (Baku Sabah, Azerbaijan), Rihards Lomažs (Klaipeda Neptūnas, Lithuania), Andrejs Gražulis (Ankara Turk Telekom, Turkey), Mārcis Šteinbergs (Manreza Baxi, Spain), Artūrs Kurucs (Lugo Rio Breogan, Spain), Artūrs Žagars (Istanbul Fenerbahce, Turkey), Kristers Zoriks (Lheida Hiopos, Spain).

Turkey national team squad

Adem Bona (Philadelphia 76ers, NBA), Alperen Sengin (Houston Rockets, NBA), Ercan Osmani, Shane Larkin, Erkan Yilmaz (all - Anadolu Efes Istanbul), Furkan Korkmaz, Kenan Sipahi, Shehmus Hadzer (all - Bahcesehir Koleji), Onuralp Bitim (Bayern Munich, Germany), Emeris Faruk Yurtseven, Cedi Osman (both - Panathinaikos Athens, Greece), Sertac Sanli (Fenerbahce Istanbul).