Rio Olympics: Jokic, Serbia advance to quarterfinals
By Drew Albee
After his superstar performance against the United States on Friday, the Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center, Nikola Jokic, came back down to earth in his team’s 94-60 victory over China Sunday evening.
Jokic was named MVP of the Belgrade qualifying tournament, but had not been properly utilized by the Serbian coaching staff through three games at the Rio Olympics.
Against the United States, Jokic busted out with a game-high 25 points, team-high six rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block. “Big Honey” almost single-handedly brought Serbia back to tie the United States in regulation, but their comeback fell a bit short.
In a tweet following the game, Matt Moore of CBSSports.com noted that Jokic’s “breakout” performance against the U.S. was nothing new to Nuggets fans:
Facing a must-win game against the Chinese, Jokic logged at least 20 minutes for the third straight contest. In the process, Jokic helped Serbia past China and advance into the quarterfinals of the Rio Olympics.
Let’s take a look at how Jokic fared in helping his team defeat China — becoming one of the final eight teams in the tournament.
Next: Nikola Jokic & Serbia defeat China