EuroBasket 2025: Schedule, scores, standings, and Nikola Jokic as Serbia faces Portugal on Friday

EuroBasket, one of the most prominent international basketball competitions, is now in progress. It has kicked off with some of the world's best NBA players, including Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Serbia is arguably the clear favorite and has triple-NBA MVP winner Nikola Jokic at the lead. It played against Estonia in group stage group A's opening match. Serbia has also been reportedly favored as one of the tier-one contenders for winning EuroBasket 2025.

EuroBasket 2025: Round robin, knockout stages, and key dates from tip-off to the final

Twelve teams started the battle on Wednesday, August 27, and Nikola Jokic and Serbia dominated the opening day. During the course, teams will play a round robin tournament amongst each other in their own group.

Top teams from each pool advance into the knockout stage at the end of the round robin. This phase technically starts at the round of 16 on Saturday, September 6. From this date onward, teams will fast-track. Following the semifinals on September 9 and 10, there will be the semifinals on September 12. The third-place match and final-championship match are set for September 14, Sunday.

EuroBasket 2025 standings: Turkey, Germany, and Lithuania lead groups as early favorites emerge

Having a record of 2-0, Turkey has established an early lead for Group A.

Serbia and Portugal also have a record of 1-0 and are still unbeaten. Two consecutive defeats have seen Czechia drop to a record of 0-2, while Latvia and Estonia are yet to achieve their inaugural win since beginning at a record of 0-1.Germany and Lithuania have ideal 2-0 openers and are leading Group B. Finland is at 1-0. Sweden and Montenegro are at 0-2 and haven’t won so far, and Great Britain has a slow start at 0-1.

Additionally, Greece, Georgia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina all had successful starts to their campaigns in Group C, with a 1-0 record.

Spain, Cyprus, and Italy, on the other hand, have all lost their opening games and have a 0-1 record.Israel, France, and Poland all had strong starts in Group D, finishing with 1-0 records. In the meantime, Slovenia, Belgium, and Iceland all lost their first games and are now at 0-1 in the group phase.

EuroBasket 2025 scores: Georgia stuns Spain, as Serbia, France and Poland open with big wins

The group stage began on Wednesday, August 27, with a number of clear-cut outcomes. Portugal defeated Czechia 62-50, while Lithuania defeated Great Britain 94-70.

Germany easily defeated Montenegro 106-76 in their opening match. In their 93-73 victory over Latvia, Turkey also looked formidable. Finland defeated Sweden 93-90 in a closer match, and Serbia defeated Estonia 98-54 to end the day.

The action resumed with more exciting matches on Thursday, August 28. Israel got off to a sturdy start by routing Iceland 83-71, and Georgia pulled off the shocker by defeating Spain 83-69 and delivering a statement performance. Bosnia and Herzegovina defeated Cyprus handily, 91-64, and France appeared dominant in their match against Belgium and took it by a score of 92-64. While Poland impressed the viewers and defeated Slovenia 105-95 in one of the round's more prominent games, Greece won hearts by beating Italy 75-66.

EuroBasket 2025: Nikola Jokic leads Serbia as Bogdan Bogdanović acknowledges his impact

Serbia is reportedly among the competition's favorites. According to the EuroBasket power rankings, the team is ranked higher than Germany and France.

The match between Nikola Jokic’s team and Portugal is scheduled to begin at 2:15 p.m. ET on Friday. Accompanied by teammates, and under Nikola Jovic, Serbia won its opening group play game against Estonia 98-64. Nikola Jovic was the star of Serbia's 12-man lineup. Even his teammates depend on him. Bogdan Bogdanovic, a teammate from his club and country.

He said:“He brings probably the highest confidence that I’ve ever had playing with anyone else..

Everybody knows about his IQ and feel for the game, but what really makes him special is his basketball shape for his size, his ability to run and his conditioning.”On the other hand, fans in the US and other countries can access FIBA's official streaming site, Courtside 1891 to watch the matches. The service is available through the Courtside app on DAZN and covers all EuroBasket games. To access it, they will have to pay the $9.99 monthly subscription fee. There is also the option to watch Arena Sport in Serbia. The game will be televised in Estonia by TV3. Every game is available for fans to watch live at any time. Also read: How to watch EuroBasket 2025: Schedule, format, participating NBA stars, and everything you need to know