Russia march into semi finals of FIBA EuroBasket with 77 – 67 victory over Serbia - Part 1
Russia continued their inexorable assault at the EuroBasket championship with a 77 – 67 win over Serbia in the quarterfinal played Thursday. It was the 9th straight win for the Russians, who look like one of the favourites
to win the championship on current form.
Serbia played a good game, but were unable to cope with the fine display from their Russian counterparts. Milos Teodosic was instrumental in Serbia’s game plan and he piled on a game high 20 points. Former Boston Celtics man Nenad
Krstic did his share of the work, grabbing 5 boards and also contributing with 13 points. However, no other player made a significant contribution for the Serbs.
On the other hand, Russia were powered to the win by a superb display from Andrei Kirilenko. The forward recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. He also led his side in assists, with 6 and steals, with 4.
The Russians pretty much led throughout the game and did not look overly troubled by the Serbians. Serbia Forward Dusko Savanovic blamed the loss on their own shortcomings but did accept that Russia played to win and were the better
side on the day.
"It was a very important game for us, but we didn't play at the level we were supposed to play if we wanted to win this game. They played very fast and aggressive basketball. Russia jumped and grabbed rebounds over our heads. We
made too many turnovers and that's why we didn't win this game. We had some injuries but that's not an excuse. We'll try to forget this game and focus on the one we have early tomorrow, because we still want to make it to the Olympics."
The game began with 4 quick points from Serbia as they looked to get on the front foot early. The Russians, though, responded quickly and soon clawed their way into a lead. They did not relinquish it until the end of the first
quarter, keeping a gap of around 4 points throughout.
The sides entered the 2nd quarter with the score at 16 – 12 to Russia.
They came out firing again in the 2nd quarter and used a 7 – 0 sprint to get a double digit lead with the score at 23 – 12. Serbia seemed shaken by the lightning fast attack of Russians at the start of the quarter and
failed to get to grips with the situation throughout the period. Perovic and Teodosic put up a spirited fight in but were not able to get Serbia back on level terms.
At the end of the half the score was 34 – 27.
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