Croatia pulled away from a pesky Portugal with a decisive run that started before half-time and ultimately prevailed 90-68.

With both sides having lost their Group B openers – Portugal to Spain and Croatia to Latvia – victory was a must to have a realistic chance of advancing to Madrid for the next stage of the competition.

		Roko-Leni Ukic had 14 points in Croatia's win.

Valentyn Melnychuk’s men looked like a different team with Joao Gomes pouring in 13 points in the first quarter.

Late in the second quarter, they led 35-34 after Paulo Cunha made a pair of free throws and added a lay-up.

Croatia finished the half on an 8-1 run for a 42-36 lead, though.

Marko Popovic scored five of his team-high 14 points in that run.

“He can change the game at the right time,” Croatia coach Jasmin Repesa said.

“He also did it with two or three shots in the third quarter.”

Indeed, when leading 42-39 at the start of the second half, Croatia reeled off nine straight points for a 51-39 advantage.

Popovic started that spurt with a lay-up, and he capped it with a three-pointer.

By the end of the third quarter, Croatia were in total command at 75-50 and they cruised over the final 10 minutes.

Repesa admitted the defeat against Latvia had weighed heavily on his team.

“It was psychologically a different game because of yesterday,” he said.

Marko Banic, the Croatian forward, had eight points in the game.

He said the team play was much improved.

“Yesterday, we didn’t play like a team,” Banic said.

“Today, we played much better. We just need to keep playing better defense.”

Unlike Monday, when Croatia endured an almighty struggle against Latvia shooting the ball from long range, they were eight of 19 (42%) by the end of the third quarter against Portugal.

They finished 10 of 24 (42%) for the game.

Joao Gomes was four of six (67%) from the floor when he scored those 13 points for Portugal in the first eight minutes of the game, but did not play for the remainder of the first half.

He ended up with 17 points.

“Once again, we didn’t start badly,” said Cunha.

“We never could get on top of them.”

Portugal go into today's clash against Croatia licking their wounds following a sound beating by EuroBasket hosts and world champions Spain.

Trailing 16-13 late in the first quarter, Valentyn Melnychuk’s men went ice cold and the Spanish reeled off 16 straight points to all but secure victory half-way through the second quarter.

“We can play better than this game,” said Melnychuk, the Portugal coach.

The Portuguese got out of their rhythm on offense and ended up shooting nine of 28 (32%) from the floor.

Defensively, they were lost as well.

Sergio Ramos, the veteran forward, said: “We have to be positive. We knew it was going to be a difficult game against the world champions.”

Croatia’s players did not show up for breakfast with smiles on their faces either after losing to Latvia in their first game.

“Tomorrow, we will come out more concentrated and aggressive, and I hope we will win the

		Jorge Coelho needs a solid game against Croatia

game,” said Croatia coach Jasmin Repesa.

Last time out: Portugal lost to Spain, 82-56; Croatia fell to Latvia, 85-77.

Key matchup: Guard Filipe da Silva must be the floor general his team will desperately need against the excellent backcourt led by Croatia’s Zoran Planinic

Statistics: Croatia must improve on their shooting from long range where they hit just 25% (eight of 32) against Latvia. More importantly, perhaps, they need to cut down on some of those three-point attempts and work the ball inside.

X-Factor: Roko-Leni Ukic doesn’t start but, like Marko Popovic, he brings a spark off the bench and nearly got Croatia back against Latvia. Ukic was four of seven (57%) from the floor, including one of two (50%) from three-point range.

What It Means: If Croatia lose to Portugal, their medal hopes are almost certainly dead with just one more Group B game left and that against world champions Spain.

Speaking Out: “Tomorrow (Tuesday), we have to play against Croatia. We have to have a better game, with good offensive decisions, good decision on defense” - Portugal coach Melnychuk.