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Serbia advances to the medal round after a match against Australia. Behind a legendary performance by Nikola Jokic (21 points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists), Serbia overcame a huge second quarter deficit to defeat Jekyll and Hyde Australia 95-90.
The first quarter was relatively uneventful, but Australia began to step up their game towards the end of the quarter. After Jokic’s 2-pointer pushed Serbia’s lead to 17, just two points shy of Australia’s 19, the two teams wouldn’t be as close again for nearly two quarters. Australia, led by FIBA ​​legend Patty Mills (who is fifth on the all-time Olympic scoring list), raced past a seemingly insurmountable Serbia by 24 points.
But Australia began to crumble in the third, vomiting a series of unlucky turnovers, and Serbia began to perform much better. With less than four minutes left in the third quarter, Serbia took its first lead at 7-6. At the end of the third round, Serbia outscored Australia 25-11 in the quarter.
The last quarter was the most competitive of the game. Both teams stayed with each other until the end. Down 82-80 with 9.8 seconds left, FIBA ​​Petty got the ball for Australia and hit a two-pointer to force overtime and give him an astounding 26 points on the day. With less than a minute left in the five-minute overtime period, Jokic hit a two-pointer for a 93-90 lead, and another turnover from the Australian sealed Serbia’s victory.
Germany bounce back against Greece and advance to the medal round
Germany overcame a rough first quarter to beat Greece 76-63 in the Olympic men’s basketball quarterfinals.
Greece star Giannis Antetokounmpo had 22 points, but it wasn’t enough for the Greeks to fight back in the second half against the reigning FIBA ​​World Cup champions.
Greece took a 16-4 lead early in the first quarter as Germany got off to a poor start shooting. But in the second quarter, the Deutschland hoopers tightened up their perimeter defense and remembered how to shoot. They chipped away at Greece’s lead, outscoring them 25-15 in the second quarter, and were able to tie the game at 36-36 at halftime. From there, Germany was able to steadily build a lead that rivaled Greece early in the game while Greece struggled to get the ball through the basket.
Franz Wagner (18 points, three rebounds, two assists) and Dennis Schroeder (13 points, 8 rebounds) stood out in Germany. Both made a number of critical plays, but the most memorable was Schröder’s shot from downtown in the final game to give Germany a 15-point lead, their biggest of the day.
That basket sealed the deal for Germany, who now advance to the medal round for the first time in the country’s history.