A magnificent comeback of 16 points that swept the basketball world! The men's basketball World Cup set off a storm, and an unpromising team swept the sixth-round Serbia, which was impressive.
In the men's basketball World Cup round of 16, four strong teams – Serbia, Dominica, Italy and Puerto Rico – are drawn in Group I, where they will compete for only two places to advance to the quarterfinals.
Serbia performed well in the group stage, winning all three games, which made them highly anticipated. Their first rematch opponent was the impressive Italian team, which had a record of two wins and one loss. The match is crucial for Serbia as a victory will secure their advance to the quarter-finals.
At the start of the second quarter, Italy's shooting slipped, and without a single athletic battle score in the first five minutes, Serbia seized the opportunity to take the lead. Nevertheless, Italy quickly regained its form, hitting consecutive three-point shots to keep the score at 2 points.
The situation quickly changed as the second half began, with Italy's attack once again bogged down while Serbia went on the onslaught, with Bogdan, Dobrich and Milutinov together playing an 18-4 offensive wave to extend the gap to 16 points.
At the beginning of the final quarter, Italy continued to make a strong appearance, Fontaeoki performed well, shooting consecutive mid-range and long-range shots, and under his leadership, Italy played a 15-7 offensive to regain the lead. However, in the final moments of the match, Serbia was close but failed to defeat, losing 76:78.
With a narrow win by two points, Italy completed a magnificent comeback and upset, beating Serbia, who was sixth in the power table, and also took the initiative to advance to the quarter-finals.
The match was a painful lesson for Serbia, especially without Jokic. Although they performed well in the group stage, their shortcomings were exposed against a strong Italian team. Without Jokic, Serbia, while strong, cannot compete with the world's top teams. This World Cup, it has become extremely difficult for them to reach the quarter-finals.