Worthy de Jong had one of the best games of his career, scoring 28 points for the Netherlands, but Serbia was too hard for the Netherlands in Fiba EuroBasket 2022. Serbia defeated the Netherlands 100-76 in front of a massive crowd of their fans in the Czech Republic.
Serbia’s ability to maintain composure was largely due to the presence of Nikola Jokic and Vasilije Micic among their ranks. Both stars delivered standout results to lead Serbia to their first win before facing the group’s hosts on Saturday in the Fiba EuroBasket 2022.
The Netherlands was a gutsy opponent on Friday night, not giving up for a single second. Their best stretch came early in the 3rd quarter when Worthy de Jong assisted them in reducing the lead to 56-51 with five minutes remaining.
However, Jokic and Micic kept their cool and played together for a 14-3 run to get back into double digits. They were in control the rest of the game despite Oranje’s occasional return to a single-digit gap.
Micic had a 15-point, 12-assist double-double game, while Jokic had 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists despite sitting out the entire fourth quarter.
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We weren’t the only ones who were unsure about the MVP of the game; both Micic and Nikola Jokic heard MVP chants from nearly 5000 fans in the Prague Arena in EuroBasket 2022 2nd day.
Serbia is just warming up, which is a scary sight after scoring 100 points in this one. Vanja Marinkovic led the way with five three-pointers and 18 points, while Dusan Ristic and Nikola Kalinic also scored in double figures in their first match at the Fiba EuroBasket 2022.
All 11 players played, and all 11 scored. A perfect start for coach Svetislav Pesic, who is still awaiting the arrival of Nikola Milutinov.
Maurizio Buscaglia isn’t going to be disheartened with the performance of his team. His team made Serbia work, and Worthy de Jong scored 28 points in 27 minutes on 11-of-14 shooting. Keye van der Vuurst de Vries, with 11, was the only other man in double digits.
“We had some bad minutes in the third quarter when they came to within five points. But we didn’t go down, we stayed focused, and we finished the game easily. ” –
Vanja Marinkovic, Serbia
It’s not my body. It’s the mind. It’s the mental part of the game that made me make this decision.
I agree, at times it looks and it feels like ‘why am I making this decision,’ but I stand by it. I scored 28 today, but we can’t depend on me scoring 28 every single game. Our successes come from team effort.” – Worthy de Jong, the Netherlands
