SERBIA erased a 24 point lead before banking on Nikola Jokic in overtime to eliminate Australia 95-90 and book a semifinals seat in the men’s basketball tournament of the 2024 Paris Olympics last Tuesday at the Bercy Arena.
Jokic hit the go-ahead basket with a minute and seven seconds remaining in extension before hitting his go-to fadeaway shot over the outstretched arms of Duop Reath with 25 seconds remaining in the ball game.
The Boomers had plenty of time to equalize – or just trim the lead to one – but Josh Giddey threw away his inbound pass, leading to two free throws for Bogdan Bogdanovic to seal the game for the Serbians.
Jokic led the way for the Serbians with 21 points, 14 rebounds, nine assists and four steals as they now await the winner between the United States and Brazil who’s set to cap off the quadruple-header for day 11 of the Olympics.
‘FIBA Patty’ almost does it for the Boomers
For a moment in the second quarter, it looked like Australia was on its way to a rousing victory behind the hot hands of Patty Mills.
Mills was unconscious to bridge the first and second quarters as he dropped 16 points in a dizzying 25-3 run which allowed Australia to take a 44-20 lead early in the second quarter.
But Jokic rallied the Serbians back into the fray as together with Bogdanovic and Vasilije Micic, the European squad pushed back with a 25-11 third quarter to set-up a thrilling fourth period, which wasn’t enough to separate the two teams.
Serbia looked poised to win as Micic was sent to the line up by one, 81-80, with nine seconds remaining but a split from the usually steady guard opened the doors for Australia to extend the game.
And who else will they go to but Mills who delivered a tough over Jokic to send the game into extension.
But that turned out to be Mills’ final stand as he was covered all overtime as the Serbians escaped the thriller.
Bogdanovic played excellent support to Jokic as he finished with 17 points, six assists and five rebounds. Micic added 14 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Serbians who’s looked terrific since their blowout loss to the United States in the opener.
Mills led the way with 26 points, but was just limited to eight in the final three quarters and overtime as he was a marked man all night long after his first quarter explosion.
Giddey also had a great game with 25 points and five rebounds but it wasn’t enough as Australia failed to match its bronze medal finish in the 2020 Tokyo games.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
