In three of the last four FIBA Basketball World Cup tournaments, Serbia has consistently reached the final four.
Their most recent victory took place at the Mall of Asia Arena, where they convincingly defeated Lithuania with a score of 87-68. This remarkable success was primarily attributed to the exceptional shooting skills of Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Serbia’s recent journey in the World Cups includes reaching the semi-finals in 2010, making it to the finals in 2014, and securing a fifth-place finish in China in 2019. Meanwhile, Lithuania will now shift their focus to the Classification Games 5-8.
Bogdan Bogdanovic showcased his basketball prowess by netting 18 points in the first half and ultimately tallying 21 points in the game, shooting an impressive 9 out of 13 attempts.
In addition to his scoring, he contributed with 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. This marked his ninth game with 20 or more points since the previous World Cup in 2019, a feat that no other player has accomplished more than seven times during the same period.
Furthermore, Bogdanovic’s total career points in World Cup games surpassed the 400 mark, making him the sixth player in this century to achieve this milestone.
After the game, the Atlanta Hawks star talked about how Borisa Simanic, who lost a kidney after catching an elbow in a previous game, inspired the team for their Quarterfinal match against Lithuania.
“I want to say something from this morning,” Bogdanovic said. “Our teammate who is still with us, Borisa Simanic, he gave us amazing energy. We were nervous yesterday, moving to another hotel, I was especially nervous, because I was always losing to Lithuania in my young age.
“I was so nervous. And then I see the message from Borisa, he was saying, ‘Guys, I’m good, don’t worry. Let’s win tonight!’ For him just to think about us after everything that happened to him (losing a kidney), he united us, and that’s an amazing guy. This is for him.”
