Oh, sure, yea, dat Pekovic is gonna be fantastic, no doubt. He killed in his last game, and now the angels fly at Target Center in anticipation of his arrival and future dominance. Once he gets done destroying other centers in his march to the FIBA World Championship in Turkey.

But, a funny thing happened along the way. A speed bump in the form of Finland:

http://www.fibaeurope.com/pageID_SDvwFtNXIjkIM58O1kVvt3.nfID_96781.coid_TUFMTahIGVwxKAe,1tMCQ1.articleMode_on.html

Nikola Pekovic went ice cold but Montenegro found a way to win anyway as they topped Finland 74-60 in their EuroBasket Group A qualifier.

Pekovic managed only one of eight shooting from the field and was held to nine points as he battled foul trouble, but it did not stop Montenegro making it two wins out of two.

They got to work early, with Pekovic's jump-shot sparking a run of 17 unanswered points that turned a 10-5 deficit into a 22-10 lead.

Finland got the gap back to six, 35-29, on Hanno Mottola's three-pointer early in the third quarter, but they got not closer as a Milos Borisov three-pointer sparked another 8-0 run that made it 53-35.

Finland had the better of the closing stages, but by then Montenegro had built up a comfortable lead and they were never threatened.

Vladimir Dasic led the victors with 12 points, while Vladimir Dragicevic had nine points.

Teemu Rannikko's 20 points were in vain for Finland.