In the battle between the 2023 FIBA World Cup Finals protagonists, Serbia emerged victorious this time around.
Serbia successfully avenged its heart-wrenching loss to Germany almost a year ago with a 93-83 win to claim bronze in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 men’s basketball tournament at the Bercy Arena on Saturday, August 10 (PH Time).
Unlike last year, the Eagles now had someone capable of making a world of difference: Nikola Jokic.
Jokic did everything right for Serbia, putting up a historic triple-double of 19 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists. It is only the fifth triple-double in Olympic basketball history.
The three-time NBA MVP with the Denver Nuggets simply had the power to make everyone around him better, with Vasilije Micic also finishing with 19 points, on top of two rebounds and two assists.
Bogdan Bogdanovic sustained his fiery form from the sorry loss to Team USA in the semifinals and shot three triples on the way to 16 points for Serbia, who now have two medals from the last three Olympics as the team won silver in Rio 2016.
[RELATED STORY: Team USA explodes in fourth quarter, beats Serbia in come-from-behind fashion to advance to finals]
To complete the total team effort, Aleksa Avramovic had 13 points, five rebounds, four assists, and four steals, while Filip Petrusev added 11 points for the Eagles, who doused a late-game uprising from their European neighbors.
With Moritz Wagner leading the charge early in the fourth period, Germany managed to close in at 82-74 with still five minutes and 26 seconds to go.
But Serbia was quick to restore order, instigating a 5-0 spurt capped by Vanja Marinkovic’s easy deuce in transition.
Marinkovic would swish in triple a little over a minute later to give Serbia a comfortable 93-78 lead.
While Dennis Schroder unloaded a triple in the ensuing play to stay within striking distance, Germany went gun-shy from there.
In the final three minutes of action, Isaac Bonga, Schroder, Franz Wagner, all botched open triples that could have made a world of difference in their comeback bid.
Franz paced Germany with 18 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
His brother Moritz added 16 points and four rebounds, while Schroder chimed in 13 points, four rebounds, and six assists.
Despite the loss, fourth place is Germany's highest finish in Olympics basketball.
