FIBA semifinal: Serbia to face Team USA in final after 90-85 win over France
Serbia will advance to the gold medal game of the 2014 World Cup after defeating France 90-85 on Friday.
We told you this would be fun. For three quarters, we were wrong. And then the fourth quarter happened.
Stuck 61-46 after three frames, Nicolas Batum and France chipped away at Serbia's lead, point by point, eventually cutting the deficit to four with 5:16 to play. Credit a 5-of-6 mark from long range during that stretch and a defensive effort - a staple of this French team throughout the tournament - that never waned.
With just a minute left to play, Thomas Heurtel, he of a huge three in the quarterfinal game against Spain, cut the lead to just three points at 82-79. Serbia would again pull away, but of course Batum had to keep us on the edge of our seat until the final buzzer, drilling a triple with 2.2 seconds left to pull France back within a possession.
Ultimately, however, the comeback served only to make the fourth quarter entertaining, as Serbia was able to hang on for the five-point victory and a berth opposite the U.S.A. in Sunday's gold medal game. France, meanwhile, will draw Lithuania in Saturday's bronze medal game - still an impressive finish line considering they were without Tony Parker for the tournament.
Stepping up in Parker's absence over the past two weeks has primarily been Boris Diaw, but on Friday it was all Batum. He scored 35 points on 11-of-17 shooting and an insane 8-of-12 on threes, adding three assists for good measure. He was largely unguardable, especially in the second half when he dropped 25 on 9-of-12 from the floor.
He also helped slow down the lethal Serbian attack, drawing the red-hot Milos Teodosic later in the game and helping hold him to just three second-half points after he scored 21 in the first. Teodosic had been the story in the first half, and his final line of 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting with three rebounds and three assists is still deserving of immense credit.
Teodosic had a lot of help, though, with his Serbian teammates taking a page out of France's book and spreading the scoring around. Six different Serbians scored in double-figures and another added eight points, with the team as a whole shooting 57 percent and 8-of-15 on threes.
France had boasted a top defense throughout the tournament but found themselves in need of scoring in a major way Friday, with Batum, Diaw (13 points, 10 rebounds, five assists) and Heurtel (12 points, six assists) answering the call. Even with a four-rebound edge on the glass and a 15-of-33 mark from long range (33 3-point attempts!), France couldn't quite get there, shooting 46 percent overall and making six fewer free throws than Serbia.
While France boasts more NBA talent - Serbia has just Miroslav Raduljica (11 points, four rebounds) on an NBA roster, with veteran Nenad Krstic (11 points) and prospect Bogdan Bogdanovic (13 points, four assists, with 10 points in the fourth quarter) - Serbia's offense has proven nearly unstoppable in the tournament. Look, when even shots like this are going in, your team is in a real flow:
After going 2-3 in group play, Serbia seems to have a little bit of Cinderella magic going for them. They were actually one of the last teams to qualify for the tournament and entered play just 11th in the FIBA rankings. We'll see Sunday if there's enough magic left to upset the Americans, who will enter the game as heavy favorites.