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Team USA's first roadblock in their quest for Olympic gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics will be the Nikola Jokic-led Serbian team. While there are other threats in Serbia's roster, Jokic will prove to be the toughest challenge for them in their first game of the group stage.
As he regularly shows in the NBA, Jokic has elite court vision and a determined approach to rebounding. It appears he is available for the matchup as he is not listed on any injury reports, which is a huge boost for Serbia.
Jokic will be joined by teammates who currently play in the NBA or have NBA experience such as Nikola Jovic, Filip Petrusev, Vasilije Micic, and Bogdan Bogdanovic. The team also has other talented players who play in professional leagues in Europe.
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With Nikola Jokic as their leader, Serbia should not be underestimated. He is a three-time NBA MVP and has won one NBA championship so far. Furthermore, he already has experience at the Olympics as he was a part of their 2016 squad that won silver.
Nikola Jokic and Serbia lost to Team USA in an exhibition game
Similar to the other teams participating in the Olympics this year, Serbia and the USA played several exhibition games as part of their preparation. They already faced off in a tune-up game last July 17, which Team USA comfortably won, 105-79.
In that game, Nikola Jokic led Serbia with 16 points, on a 6-for-19 shooting clip, and grabbed 11 rebounds. Guard Aleksa Avramovic was their second-highest scorer with 14 points, on 5-for-9 shooting from the field. Filip Petrusev and Ognjen Dobric also scored in double digits with 11 and 10, respectively.
Steph Curry was the top scorer in their dominant victory. The Golden State Warriors star torched Serbia's defense for 24 points on a highly efficient 8-for-13 shooting clip, including six 3-pointers. Bam Adebayo (17 points) and Anthony Edwards (16 points) also came up big off the bench for Team USA.
Serbia's players, as well as their fans, are hoping that the result will be different when they face the Americans at the Olympics. Having a healthy Nikola Jokic is a start but his teammates will need to step up if they plan on pulling off a huge upset.
