At this point, Nikola Jokic, winner of three of the last four NBA MVPs, is pretty widely accepted as the best basketball player in the world. An ever-dwindling contingent has tried to resist this anointment, intent to die on the hill of advanced-stat denial, but the evidence has just become too overwhelming.
The latest exhibit? A five-minute run of two-way dominance that lifted Serbia, which trailed by 24 points in the first half, to a 95-90 overtime victory over Australia in the 2024 Olympic quarterfinals on Tuesday.
Jokic, who is less of an offensive focal point for Serbia than he is in the NBA for the Denver Nuggets, finished with 24 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists and four steals. However, it wasn’t until the extra session that he went into full hero mode — beginning with a drive-and-kick assist for an Ognjen Dobric 3-pointer to break the overtime ice.
Jokic’s OT stat line of four points, two steals, two rebounds, one assist and one block doesn’t do justice to the magnitude of each and every play he made.
To land the first overtime punch was vitally important for the Serbians, who were at risk of being buried by the momentum of the miraculous Patty Mills fadeaway jumper that tied the game in the closing seconds of regulation.
That’s what Jokic does. In the tensest of times, he steadies everyone and everything around him. He created that shot with the ease and rhythm of a second-quarter dish on a Tuesday night in November, casually Euro-stepping his way into the lane and slinging a pocket-perfect laser into Dobric’s readied hands.
From that point forward, it was the Jokic show. He concluded the overtime period with four points, two steals, two rebounds, one assist, one block and another FIBA block, where he swatted away a Mills layup that appeared to be going in as it momentarily stalled on the rim. This would be goaltending in the NBA, but it is legal in international play.
In true Jokic fashion, he dominated the overtime period without even taking a shot until nearly four minutes had passed. The block on Josh Giddey, with Australia in position to add to a three-point lead with just over two minutes to play, was equally immense as a two-possession lead late in an overtime session becomes exponentially daunting.
With 90 seconds left and Serbia trailing by one, Jokic committed what looked to be a crippling turnover as Mills stole the ball from him, but Jokic stayed in the play and pursued Mills into the front court and stole it right back. That lead to the Jokic jump hook — a total muscle memory conversion where he knew exactly where he was in proximity to the basket even with his back turned — that gave Serbia a one-point lead.
Jack McVeigh had a chance to put Australia back on top with a 15-foot corner jumper with under a minute to play, but as a 3-point specialist clearly uncomfortable shooting from closer range — which requires more touch, especially from the corner — he alligatored-armed it and left it short.
Who got the rebound? Jokic. On the ensuing possession, he drove the nail home on the Aussies with his patented, shuffling one-foot fallaway, which didn’t as much go through the net as it did lightly brush it.
You have to give the Australians a lot of credit. Though painfully sloppy once they had the big lead, they were stellar for much of this game. Mills and Giddey, a sensational FIBA player with total control of the ball who will hopefully be able to carry this momentum into his fresh NBA start with the Bulls, combined for 51 points.
In the end, they just ran up against the best player in the world. Sometimes, oftentimes even, basketball really is that simple. Serbia’s 24-point comeback is the biggest in Olympic history, and the Serbians will now face the winner of the USA/Brazil game in the semifinals with a spot in the gold-medal game on the line and a guaranteed spot in at least the bronze-medal game.
