• → Game to take place at Nokia Arena, Tampere on Friday, August 29 at 13:30 EEST (11:30 BST).
• → Lithuania are 1–0 after a 94–70 opener vs Great Britain (Jonas Valančiūnas set the tone; Ažuolas Tubelis popped as the debut spark).
• → Montenegro are 0–1 after a 76–106 loss to Germany, undone by a third-quarter avalanche.

Lithuania–Montenegro - NBA Big Men Clash in Tampere as The Green Death Eye 2-0 Start

There’s recent history baked into this matchup. Lithuania rolled Montenegro in World Cup qualifying (90–73 in Kaunas, later 65–56 in Podgorica), then handled them again on the big stage in Manila, 91–71, behind clean half-court execution and a guard-led tempo that kept the paint uncluttered. That recent run tilts the memory bank toward the Baltics, even as Nikola Vučević’s modern spacing threatens to redraw the geometry in Tampere.

Lithuania - old-school heft, new-wave timing

Game 1 looked like a mission statement. The early touches went to Valančiūnas to test the interior, but the offense really breathed when the ball flowed through second actions—guards driving, kickouts on time, and Tubelis turning seams into dunks and put-backs. The formula that’s traveled for a decade still plays: own the glass, keep turnovers boring, and make help spin with sharp-side spacing. If Lithuania hit their “middle eight” (last 4’ of the 2nd + first 4’ of the 3rd)—the exact window that buried Montenegro against Germany—they’ll script this at their tempo.

Montenegro — the pick-and-pop referendum

Everything orbits Vučević. The ask is twofold: pull Valančiūnas away from the rim with pops and trail 3s, then punish late tags with slip cuts and short-roll playmaking. When the ball sticks, Montenegro grind into tough twos; when the first screen flows into a re-screen and the weak-side stays honest, they manufacture rhythm. What can’t repeat from Wednesday is the post-halftime stall—Germany flipped the game with pace, depth, and a 33–12 third. Montenegro need cleaner early-clock looks and a gang-rebounding effort to keep Lithuania from turning misses into runway.

Stakes

Lithuania bank a 2–0 start and keep Saturday’s Germany clash on a calm track. For Montenegro, nicking this re-centers the group after a rough opener and proves the Vučević-centric offense can bend a top-tier defense rather than bounce off it.

How to watch Lithuania vs Montenegro

Stream Lithuania vs Montenegro it live and on-demand on Courtside 1891.

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    Regional availability and blackouts may apply. (Group B is hosted in Tampere; knockouts move to Riga.)