SERBIA vented its ire on Puerto Rico, 107-66, to claim its first win in the 2024 Paris Olympics men’s basketball tournament on Wednesday evening at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille, France.
Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic flirted with a triple-double as he finished with 14 points, 15 rebounds, nine assists, two steals and a block in just 23 minutes of action in the wire-to-wire rout.
Behind Jokic, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Filip Petrusev, the Serbians quickly built a double-digit spread in the first quarter and never looked back, as they continued to pad on that lead up until the final buzzer
In the format of Olympics basketball – where every point counts – the blowout victory was a huge bounce back for Jokic and the Serbians after being blownout by Team USA in their Paris opener.
Petrusev led seven players who breached double digits for Serbia as he finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Bogdanovic and Vasilije Micic chipped in 13 points apiece for the Eastern European giants.
The Serbians’ size was evident in this clash as they ruled the glass, 54-24, while converting almost every chance they had in the shaded area, scoring 62 points inside to make up for their paltry three point shooting.
Christopher Ortiz led the way for Puerto Rico with 19 points as their NBA representative in Jose Alvarado was limited to just two points.
With the win, Serbia kept its outright quarterfinals hopes alive in Group C with opening day winners Team USA and South Sudan still set to clash as of writing.
Puerto Rico's loss dropped them to the bottom of the group, and with a date with Team USA waiting on the final game day of the classification phase, they’re gonna need a miracle to make the quarters.
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