Intriguing poster in this Group D, to complete the fifth day of the competition. Undefeated Serbia take on Finland, who are among the underdogs, led by Lauri Markkanen. Although favorites on paper, the Serbs must therefore be wary of their opponents, since this EuroBasket has shown that “upsets” are in order…
But Svetislav Pesic’s men have every intention of not imitating Slovenia, unexpectedly beaten by Bosnia and Herzegovina, and thus show their entry muscles. Despite a convincing start to the match from Finland, carried in particular by a well-legged Edon Maxhuni, the Serbian players hit hard without delay.
The relationship between Vasilije Micic and Nikola Jokic on “pick-and-roll” is obviously sparking (16 points to two), while Nikola Kalinic is also growing very quickly (8 points). At the end of the first quarter, the gap is therefore quite logically in favor of the Serbs (33-22), who only miss one shot (9/10)!
The rest of the first period is only the logical continuity of what has just happened during the previous minutes: the Serbian collective breaks, possession after possession, on the Finnish defense (19 assists in the first half). And the gap then swells gradually: first +18 (40-22) at the start of the second quarter, then +22 (46-24) and finally +28 (62-34) at the break! Serbia’s major five compiled 50 points, including 9 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists for Nikola Jokic.
After the break, there is nothing to report in particular as Serbia is in management. The third quarter was nevertheless vastly different from the previous two, as both teams tightened their defenses and scored only 14 points with less than 40% shooting success on both sides. However, the gap remains the same after the half hour (76-48), and even exceeds 30 points, +34 exactly, at the start of the very last minute, when Serbia reaches the 100 point mark.
After a one-sided match from start to finish, the Serbs remain undefeated (100-70), after three outings in this EuroBasket. The level of play displayed collectively by Nikola Jokic and his troop is generally impressive, after the first five days of competition, and confirms that Serbia is undoubtedly one of the great favorites in this tournament.
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Photo credit: FIBA
