Nikola Jokic pushes Serbia past Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece in overtime / News - Basketnews.com

Serbia defeats Greece in overtime in Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo's duel in the 2023 World Cup qualifiers game.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Nikola Jokic leads the Serbian National team (2-3) to an important victory over Giannis Antetokounmpo's Greece (3-2) in the World Cup 2023 qualifiers game with a final score of 100-94 (31-25, 20-19, 19-19, 17-24, 13-7).

Player of the Game EFF 28 Nikola Jokic Points 29 Accuracy 11-16 Rebounds 8 Assists 6

In a duel between two NBA superstars, Serbia kept their chances alive to qualify for the 2023 World Cup after defeating Greece, despite the 40-point performance by Giannis Antetokounmpo, which is his career high with the national team and FIBA World Cup European qualifiers record.

Nikola Jokic ended up with 29 points (9/13 2PT, 2/3 3PT, 5/10 FT), 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, and 6 turnovers for 28 EFF.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had his career high for the national team in points with 40 (12/18 2PT, 2/7 3PT, 10/14 FT), he also had 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, and 3 turnovers for 37 EFF.

With 2 minutes left in the overtime, Giannis Antetokounmpo reduced Greece's deficit to 3 points (95-92) after converting on a layup, but in the final two minutes Greece struggled to score and came up short.

In the overtime, Jokic scored two consecutive baskets over Giannis Antetokounmpo to give Serbia a 6-point lead (95-89) with 2:57 left on the game clock.

With 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Tyler Dorsey hit a clutch 3-pointer to tie the game (87-87).

With 53 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Nick Calathes converted on a floater to cut Serbia's lead down to 3 points (87-84).

Thanasis Antetokounmpo kept Greece's hopes to win the game alive with 1:23 left in the fourth quarter by hitting a 3-pointer to reduce the deficit to 5 points (87-82).

Ognjen Jaramaz hit a crucial 3-pointer with 2:09 left in the fourth quarter after Jokic's offensive rebound to give Serbia an 8-point lead (84-76).

With four minutes left in the final quarter, Thanasis Antetokounmpo stole the ball and assisted his brother Giannis for a fast-break layup to reduce the deficit to 3 points (79-76).

Serbia: Nikola Jokic 29 (8 REB, 6 AST), Ognjen Jaramaz 15, Vladimir Lucic 14, Nikola Milutinov 12 (4 REB).

Greece: Giannis Antetokounmpo 40 (8 REB, 5 AST), Tyler Dorsey 16, Thanasis Antetokounmpo 12 (5 REB), Kostas Papanikolaou 8 (6 REB).

Highlights

Thank you for reading us! We have even more content for you.