Nikola Jokic got a rain check as his Serbian National Team ran into a tough Italian side in a friendly, a week before World Cup qualifiers start.
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To start their campaign of International Friendlies in Hamburg for DBB SuperCup 2022, Serbia took on Italy last week and found it pretty hard to dominate the game despite NBA’s reigning 2x MVP leading their side.
The trio of Simone Fontecchio, Nicolo Melli, and Nico Mannion surprisingly led Italy to a double-digit lead. They spurted 11-0 at the start of the second quarter and ran away from their opponents by 13 points (41-28).
Former Warriors’ point guard, Mannion, who now plays for Virtus Bologna, set up some typical GSW pick and roll which even left the Serbian Big man in shambles. He even tried posterzing the 7-footer, didn’t come off clean, but still had a decent highlight dunk.
Obviously, guarding smaller guards and wings is always difficult for a big man, even NBA’s 3x DPOY, Frenchman Rudy Gobert face difficulty in that. But Jokic did what he does best.
Nikola Jokic finally turned to his MVP self
Led by The Joker, Serbia erased a 15-point deficit after Fontecchio and Mannion were running away with the game in the third quarter, but Serbia got things going in the last period.
The 4x NBA All-Star was draining one shot after another on a 16-6 run and retook the lead 81-80 and never looked back. With a solid double-double of 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists, Jokic led Serbia to a 90-86 win.
Serbia then played for first place in the DBB Supercup and defeated Germany to grab it, with Jokic putting up a 22-point performance in an 83-56 win.
With FIBA World Cup European Qualifiers on the way, Serbia would fancy their chances as they have the NBA’s most valuable player of the last two years, along with Bogdan Bogdanovic, Nemanja Bjelica, Boban Marjanovic and Miami’s Nikola Jovic in the squad.
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