There was no chance of a gentle start to hosting duties for Finland on Wednesday night, as neighbours and underdogs Sweden gave their all to try and spoil the party, as Finland survived a three-point attempt in the final seconds to hang on for a 93-90 win.
Great Britain, meanwhile, began their campaign with a 94-70 defeat to Lithuania, and after starting the match brightly by taking a 12-10 lead in the first four minutes, a 13-2 run for the Finns set the tone for another difficult evening for the British team.
Markkanen was already stamping his authority with 12 points in the first quarter, while the final two went to young prospect Miikka Muurinen, who ensured a 30-21 after 10 minutes.
In the second quarter, Marc Stuetel's men again made the brighter start, going on a 5-0 run, but again it was only a matter of time before the Wolfpack woke up, and three-pointers from Markkanen and Sasu Salin saw the lead grow to 12 points.
Back-to-back scores from Amin Adamu and Luke Nelson gave GB some hope, cutting the lead to 49-41, but a 9-1 run in the final 01:26 of the half saw Finland go from eight to 16 points ahead and knock any remaining wind out of British sails.
The third quarter saw Finland's scoring drop off, as they managed a game-low 23 points, but a far better defensive effort saw them allow Great Britain to add just 14 to their total.
The bulk of that good work on the defensive side came in the final few minutes, as Finland continued to thwart the GB shooters before Markkanen, Olivier Nkamhoua and co put together some fantastic fastbreaks and a 16-4 run, contributing to an 81-56 lead with 10 minutes left.
Markkanen scored the first three points of the fourth quarter, taking his tally to 43, before the 28-year-old was rested by coach Lassi Tuovi, preserving his own Finnish record of 48 points which he set earlier this month against Poland.
The rotating Finland bench did little to quell their attacking prowess, at one stage going 37 points clear before Great Britain added finished respectably, cutting the final advantage to 30, as Finland romped to a 109-79 win.
After Markkanen, the next highest scorer in the game was Salin with 21 points, while Nelson's 13 was the best from a British player. Akwasi Yeboah was the leading rebounder in the match with eight, as Salin, Tarik Phillip and Alexander Madsen topped the assist chart, with five each.
Finland will aim to make it three from three in front of their home crowd when they face Montenegro tomorrow. GB will attempt to end their hunt for a first win tomorrow when they take on Sweden.