The Serbian basketball team will play in the finale of the European championship for the first time since 2009. Aleksandar Đorđević's team has beaten Russia in the semi-finals. The Serbs will play against Slovenia for gold on Sunday.
Russia was the only team to beat Serbia in this tournament, but it was clear that the semi-finals will be completely different.
Serbia took the control from the start, leading 5-0. They had an incredible streak of 14-0 in the second quarter, which brought the score from 28:26 to 42:26. The Russians, led by the great Alexey Shved, didn't give up for a single moment, making the game interesting until the very end.
Russia managed to catch up on a few occasions in the fourth quarter. Four minutes before the end, the score was 75:73 for the Serbs. Bogdan Bogdanović, Serbia's best player, and Sacramento Kings' new rookie scored five crucial points in the last moments of the game. The final result was 87:79 for Serbia.
A fantastic match was played by Detroit Pistons' center Boban Marjanović, who finished the game with 18 points, six rebounds and four assists. On the other hand, Alexey Shved played great once again, scoring 33 points and assisting five times.
Bogdan Bogdanović's clutch performance
The rookie with the best contract in the history of NBA and Sacramento Kings' new signing, Bogdan Bogdanović was the key player for Serbia once again.
Bogdanović finished the match with 24 points, three rebounds and four assists.
What can rejoice Kings' heads is that Bogdanović has again hit the key points and in the result of 78:74, he scored five consecutive points, thus securing his team's first Eurobasket final since 2009. Bogdanović will wear the Sacramento Kings jersey this season.
He signed a three-year contract worth $36 million and will thus become the most paid rookie in the history of the NBA league.
Announcement of the final played on Sunday
In the grand finale, Serbia and Slovenia will meet on Sunday. Slovenia won against Spain in the semi-finals with 92:72. The Slovenians were led by the Miami Heat star Goran Dragić and the boy, who will be a top 3 pick in the 2018 draft, Luka Dončić.
Russia and Spain will play for the third place.
In the final meeting, the main word will be held by the Pistons' center Boban Marjanović and the Kings' rookie Bogdan Bogdanović on one side versus Goran Dragić and Luka Dončić on the other.
Goran Dragić announced the withdrawal from the national team after the final, making this his last game in the jersey of Slovenia. Of course, we should especially point out the eighteen-year-old Luka Dončić, the star of Real Madrid and the boy who could end up within the top 3 picks in the 2018 draft.
The Eurobasket finale will be played on Sunday at 2:30 PM (UTC -4).
