“MVP! MVP! Jokic pulled off a desperate game for Serbia: how it was from the inside
Andrey Pankov August 6, 2024, 19:35 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
The best player in the NBA almost single-handedly dragged his team to the semi-finals!
Serbia, much appreciated by Russian fans, reached the semi-finals of the Olympic Games. Or rather, it did not make it: it crawled into the semi-finals and recovered with a “-24” in the match against Australia. And the victory was only possible thanks to Nikola Jokic.
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Although in the first half of the match it seemed that this would be an inglorious game for Nikola. He remained passive, did not perform his usual magic work, and at the same time the entire Serbian national team faded away. But for Australia, on the contrary, everything went well: at some point the statistics of successful field goals reached 20 out of 26 attempts. And Patty Mills, whose basket absorbed every shot, scored 18 points by the end of the first quarter – more than the entire Serbian team. What a fire this guy was!
At the start of the second quarter, the gap reached a terrifying 24 points. And at that moment, it was as if someone had turned on a switch on Jokic. He started running all over the court, working on defense and collecting absolutely every rebound. From the podium he made an unreal impression. And along with this, the rest of the Serbian team also went downhill: now the ring absorbed almost every shot they took. The crowd felt it too. The Serbian fans, who had remained silent during the first half of the match, became excited and began to greet with a roar every touch of the ball by the Australians. And when Jokic cut the lead to 12 points with two free throws, the entire stadium began to chant: “MVP! MVP! MVP!”
Who else besides Jokic?
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By the middle of the third quarter, the score was tied. At that point, Jokic was already by far the leader in playing time among all players on the court, but at the same time he did not leave the court at all. And with all that workload, he continued to make brilliant passes and clear everything under the basket.
And here is the culmination of the whole game: Serbia has a two-point lead and Australia has nine seconds to attack. Mills is trusted to complete it and Jokic defends against him. Nikola does everything to prevent the Australian from shooting a three-pointer and puts it in the two-point zone, from where Mills still makes an incredibly difficult shot. Jokic follows the ball with his eyes and slaps his hands in frustration. “Won’t he break after this?” – went through my head. But this is the greatness of the Serbian. In overtime, the switch switched to turbo mode. An incredible blocked shot, then an atypical mistake when passing with his back, which was corrected with an immediate return to defense and an interception. And the highlight of the evening were two decisive three-pointers, which were scored as if in training.
When the siren sounded, the ball was in Jokic’s hands. And not a muscle moved on the Serbian’s face. Thanks to him, his team got through a very difficult match, but there were no emotions. Well, isn’t he the king?
Olympic Games (m). Quarterfinals
August 6, 2024, Tuesday. 15:30 Moscow time
Serbia: Plavsic, Petrushev, Jovic, Bogdanovic, Marinkovic, Dobrich, Jokic, Micic, Guduric, Davidovac, Avramovic, Milutinov
Australia: Daniels, Giddy, Mills, Green, Ingles, Dellavedova, Exum, Landale, Kaye, McVeigh, Magnay, Rieth
