Rio Olympics: Jokic, Serbia fall to Lauvergne, France in final minute

The two Denver Nuggets participating in the Rio Olympics faced off against one another in Group A play on Wednesday, as Nikola Jokic‘s Serbia squad took on Joffrey Lauvergne and France.

Neither big man has made their presence felt up to this point at the Rio Olympics. Both Jokic and Lauvergne began their respective team’s first two games on the bench and have averaged just single-digit scoring averages during the tournament’s first two games with Jokic only going for 5.5 points per game and Lauvergne merely averaging 3.0 points per game.

With both Serbia and France having lost to the “Boomers” of Australia already (and still having the heavyweight favorite United States on the schedule ahead), both teams had to look at this game as crucial to their chances at advancing. The top four teams in each group advance and the two teams entered Wednesday’s game in third (Serbia) and fourth place (France) in Group A.

Let’s take a look at how the Nuggets’ big men fared in their head-to-head meeting at the Rio Olympics.

Next: Nikola Jokic and Serbia