US ‘can’t be lulled to sleep’ by previous wins over Jokic, Serbia

PARIS — Did Serbia play the role of opossum?

After Team USA’s easy win over Brazil in the quarterfinals of the Olympic men’s basketball tournament, coach Steve Kerr was adamant that his team couldn’t rest on its 26-point win over the Serbians in Game 1 of pool play 10 days ago. Or its 26-point win over Serbia in Abu Dhabi on July 17.

Kerr wonders whether Serbia and Nikola Jokic have played a long game against the Americans and whether they will spring any surprises when they meet for the third time in less than a month in the thrilling semifinals on Thursday (3 p.m. ET).

“We can’t fall asleep because we’ve beaten them twice,” Kerr said. “We’ve got to be prepared for their best effort. We’ve got to think about what they’re going to do differently. Jokic, I think he can play 40 minutes. What else do they have up their sleeve?”

There is no opponent in the Olympics that Americans respect more than Jokic. They have seen him become a three-time Most Valuable Player and a champion in the NBA. And when Jokic was on the court in France, Serbia was great.

He leads Serbia in points (19.3), rebounds (11.8), assists (7.5), steals (2.5) and blocks (1.0) per game. He also shoots 60%. With Jokic on the court, Serbia has outscored its opponents by 43 points. When he was on the bench, they were outscored by 12 points.

In the 31 minutes Jokic played in the lopsided loss to the U.S. on July 28, the score was tied. In the nine minutes he sat, the Americans outscored Serbia 29-3, though it coincided with a red-hot shooting spree by Kevin Durant that Jokic himself probably couldn’t have done much about.

In the quarterfinals, Serbia staged a historic comeback from 24 points down to beat Australia in overtime. They were plus-17 with Jokic in the game and minus-12 in the seven minutes he was in.

Those numbers are why Kerr suspects Jokic may not play, or perhaps only briefly, as Serbia tries to maximize its chances of an upset.

“I think we’re ready for that,” said Joel Embiid, who will likely start against Jokic. “If that’s what they think they have to do to beat us, they won’t hesitate to do it.”

Serbian coach Svetislav Pesic, 74, is one of the most experienced coaches in Europe, having coached across the continent — including winning the gold medal with Yugoslavia at the 2022 World Cup. His system means the ball is in Jokic’s hands a little less than when he plays for the Denver Nuggets — the reverse of what you normally see with NBA stars playing for their national teams — but when push comes to shove, Jokic is in control. He made three crucial defensive plays — a steal, a block and a drive from the rim to prevent a basket — plus the two final hoops in the final stretch to beat Australia.

In the two games against the U.S., Pesic has had Jokic play in unusual rotations. In the Abu Dhabi game, Jokic oddly went the entire first three quarters without coming out, unusual for a friendly. In the Olympic game, Pesic was slow to bring Jokic off the bench when the U.S. made a huge run.

That aside, Serbia played periods of excellent defense in the comeback against Australia. Atlanta Hawks guard Bogdan Bogdanovic is also playing well, averaging 18.5 points and shooting an excellent 48% on 3-pointers and 90% from the free throw line.

Serbia has won three games in a row since losing to the USA

“Every game is a test of its own. Whatever happened in the first two, it’s what happens Thursday night that counts,” LeBron James said. “So we’ve got to get our film session done, get it done during the day on Thursday, and then come out and be ready to go.”