Puerto Rico fell to Serbia 107-66 in pool play of the Paris 2024 Olympic basketball tournament. A pair of stars with Louisiana ties in Jose Alvarado and Tremont Waters both struggled as NBA star Nikola Jokic led Serbia to victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The game began with Serbian star Nikola Jokic converting for the game’s first basket. New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado led Puerto Rico alongside former LSU Tiger Tremont Waters. Puerto Rico struggled to keep pace early, as Serbia used their quick passing to open a 17-6 lead in the early portion of the game. Down the stretch in the quarter, Puerto Rico made a couple of outside shots, but still trailed 24-12 after one.
The second quarter was more of the same, as Serbia had an answer for every run Puerto Rico tried to put together. At one point, the lead got to 22 at 52-30. The saving element for Puerto Rico was their three-point shooting, as they made seven in the first half compared to only two for Serbia. By the break, the lead was 17 at 52-35 in favor of the Serbians.
The second half began with hot shooting from both teams. A Waters three made it 55-40 and got Puerto Rico as close as they had been in a while. However, Serbia had a quick answer much like they did throughout the first half. They began to pull away as Puerto Rico cooled off from outside. A behind the back pass from Bogdan Bogdanovic to Jokic for two made it 76-49 near the end of the third, and Serbia carried a 79-51 lead into the final period.
In the fourth, Serbia had incentive to keep their foot on the gas, as point differential is the main tiebreaker for the tournament. Vasilije Micic ran the offense in the fourth, and their lead continued to grow. Alvarado was held in check in this game, scoring only two points. He was dealing with an ankle injury and did not play a full allotment of minutes. Waters also had a quiet offensive day, only scoring five points. Serbia finished this one with a 41-point win.
BIG NUMBER: 107
The Serbian offense could not be stopped in this one, as they put up 107 points on Puerto Rico. Those late baskets were important as well with the main tiebreaker being point differential.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Nikola Jokic
No surprise that Puerto Rico could not stop one of the NBA’s best players. Jokic ended up just one assist shy of a triple double, as he totaled 14 points, 15 rebounds, and nine assists.
UP NEXT: Puerto Rico faces the United States in their final pool play match on Saturday, August 3rd at 10:15 AM central. Serbia faces South Sudan in their final pool play match on the same day at 2:00 PM.