By Cesare Milanti / info@eurohoops.net
MANILA, Philippines – After what ended up being the best 2023 FIBA World Cup game so far between South Sudan and Puerto Rico, full of tension until the very last minute, Serbia had no problems against China in the second Smart Araneta Coliseum game of the day, rolling to the win, 105-63.
Bogdan Bogdanovic led his team providing 14 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists. Vanja Marinkovic shared the team-high of 14 points, followed right behind by a pretty inspired Dusan Ristic with 13 points and 6 rebounds. Nikola Milutinov threw in 11 points, six rebounds, three steals, and two assists. Coming off the bench, point guard Aleksa Avramovic added 10 points.
The only downside for Svetislav Pesic’s team was Filip Petrusev’s ankle injury. After scoring 8 points (2/2 FG and 4/4 FT) in just 5:31 minutes on the court, in fact, the newest Philadelphia 76ers center had to leave the court, visibly suffering on the bench.
Talking about China, there couldn’t have been the darkest way for Li Kaier – the Chinese name of Minnesota Timberwolves small forward Kyle Anderson – to officially debut with China. The naturalized player didn’t score from the field after shooting 0/9. On Sasha Djordjevic’s side, Zhao Rui had 17 points, while Qhou Zi was perfect from the field (6/6) and ended with 12 points and 5 rebounds.
By beating the Chinese national team, Serbia reached Puerto Rico on top of Group B with two points each. China and South Sudan, which will face each other in the second game scheduled on August 28 at 10:00 CET, are on the bottom. The teams that were victorious tonight, instead, will play at 14:00 CET.
PHOTO CREDIT: 2023 FIBA World Cup
Watch the upcoming World Cup on the official streaming service of FIBA! Join Courtside 1891 and never miss a second of the action!
Read all the latest news from the basketball world