Serbia needed to pull off the
biggest comeback in Olympic history to book their ticket to the
semifinals of the Paris 2024 Olympics as they took down a pesky
Australia Boomers squad 95-90 at the Bercy Arena in Paris,
France.
Despite a monstrous game from
ageless wonder Patty Mills, Serbia managed to come back from 24
points down in the 2nd quarter behind a huge second half showing.
Three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic was at the forefront of it all by
taking over the game down the stretch on both ends of the floor to
seal the come from behind victory.
Australia led the game 44-20 in
the second quarter behind the hot shooting hands of Mills, who then
scored 18 big points in the first half. However, the Serbians
displayed their toughness and resiliency as they slowly chipped
away at the lead. They finally took the lead in the 3rd quarter,
65-64, but Australia answered the call and the game went back and
forth from there. Both teams were trading baskets in the 4th
quarter and it looked like a win for Serbia at the end, but Patty
Mills made another clutch play for the Boomers as he hit a tough,
stepback mid range jumper over the outstretched arms of Jokic to
send the game into overtime.
However, a crucial call near the
end of the 4th quarter saw Jock Landale foul out of the game, and
it hurt Australia badly in extra time. Serbia immediately went to
Jokic in OT, feeding him the ball every time – and he delivered.
Jokic scored on a hook shot then followed it up with a post fade
away the next possession to give Serbia a 3-point lead. Jokic then
made a huge defensive play on the other end to effectively end the
game and give Serbia the win.
Jokic had 21 points, 14
rebounds, and 9 assists in yet another near triple-double
performance while Bogdan Bogdanovic added 17 points to lead the
Serbians. They will now move on to the semifinals where they will
face the winner of the USA-Brazil matchup.
Mills ended up with 26 points in
a tough losing effort for Australia as they failed to reach the
medal rounds this time after winning bronze in Tokyo 2020. Josh
Giddey, a rising NBA star, scored 25 of his own to lead
Australia.
