MADRID, 8 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Serbian team qualified this Friday for the final of the Basketball World Championship, after beating Canada (95-86) with solvency and more comfort than expected (95-86) and will fight on Sunday for the second time for first place. world title in its history.
Led by an excellent Bogdan Bogdanovic, who had 23 points and 4 assists, with 67 percent shooting from the field, and by Nikola Milutinov, who dominated the ‘paint’ with a ‘double-double’ of 16 points and 10 rebounds, the Europeans surpassed the Canadians, always trailing in the game and with their star, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, well defended (15 points).
In the opening quarter, the Balkan team started at a great pace, with the physical defense that has characterized the entire tournament and the success in attack, which put an initial partial of 8-1, which allowed them to finish the first quarter with 23- 15, with an excellent Bogdanovic.
The Serbian dominance was even greater in the second quarter against a Canadian team heavily penalized by fouls, since they committed up to 17 and could not impose their physicality as they did against Spain and Slovenia to stop the strong attack of Svetislav Pesic’s team, which At halftime they were comfortably ahead by 13 points (52-39).
As in the quarterfinal match, the return to the locker room suited Canada well and Jordi Fernández’s adjustments took effect. The defensive improvement was notable and after a very weak first half, Gilgeous-Alexander entered the game and brought the team within seven points.
Canada had the ball to get within five points, but did not take advantage of it and Serbia punished it with a ‘2+1’ from Milutinov and two triples (Guduric and Marinkovic) to once again surpass ten points heading into the final ten minutes and face the last ten minutes with twelve points ahead (75-63) and with the Canadian stars loaded with personal fouls.
In the last quarter, Canada put its individualities at the service of the comeback, with RJ Barret and Gilgeous-Alexander trying to counteract the Serbian defensive block, which tied them up at all times. In attack, Bogdanovic continued to dominate to maintain a comfortable income and had no problems sealing his place in the second World Cup final in his history after the loss in 2014 against the United States against the winner of the duel between the Americans and Germany.