PARIS (France) - It doesn't get any crazier than this! Serbia created an epic comeback, erasing Australia's 24-point lead, then looking like they were about to spoil it all as Patty Mills sent the game to overtime with a tough shot a second before the end of the fourth quarter.
In overtime, Nikola Jokic took over and powered the nation to a 95-90 win over Australia, claiming their spot in the Semi-Finals.
The biggest comeback in Olympic history.
Turning point
The Boomers started the game in sixth gear, storming to an early double digit lead, and hitting 19 of their first 24 shot attempts in the first half. By the time Serbia realized what's going on, it was already a 44-20 lead for Australia.
Patty Mills dominated with his shot making, getting 20 first half points, while Josh Giddey had no issues in running the plays.
Coach Svetislav Pesic made an adjustment in the second quarter, going big with Nikola Jokic and Nikola Milutinov together in the lineup, while Aleksa Avramovic managed to slow Mills down just enough for Serbia to make it back to 54-42 at the break.
And it turned out Avramovic's defense from the point they were down by 24 unlocked everything else for Serbia, including chants of "Srbija! Srbija!" from the Bercy stands.
His never-say-die mentality provoked three Australian turnovers early in the third, while Ognjen Dobric and Bogdan Bogdanovic made three straight triples to not only cut the gap, but give Serbia a 67-65 lead ahead of the final stanza.
Teams kept trading blows, Australia did not give up even when Serbia opened up a six-point lead in the fourth, and after both teams missed multiple chances to end the game in regulation, coach Brian Goorjian dialed Patty Mills's number with nine second to play.
The legendary guard delivered, his trademark pullup two-pointer over Jokic went in with a second to play, and with Serbia out of timeouts, it meant the game went to overtime.
It went back and forth then, too. Nikola Jokic had a big steal on Mills, then made a layup for the lead, picked up the defensive board, and hit his Sombor shuffle turnaround shot to make it 93-90 Serbia with 25.1 left in OT.
Australia turned it over on the out of bounds play, allowing Bogdan Bogdanovic iced the game from the free throw line.
Game hero
It should be coach Svetislav Pesic, really. The soon-to-be 75-year-old treats all the players like his kids, but at 44-20, he had a timeout which was not suitable for minors.
His harsh words woke the team up and he ended up with six men in double digits, led by Nikola Jokic's 21 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists. It reality, he was the biggest hero of this epic game, with all due respect to coach Pesic.
Stats don't lie
Serbia were much more aggressive around the rim, and picked up 16 offensive rebounds, leading up to a 24-11 advantage in second chance points.
Bottom line
What a game that was! We're still checking the numbers, but if that wasn't the biggest Olympic comeback of all time, it's surely up among the biggest ones.
Serbia will now take on the United States or Brazil in the Semis, and will need another scoring night like this one - Jokic 21, Bogdanovic 17, Micic 14, Guduric 11, Avramovic 10, with Petrusev also contributing, getting 9 points.
As for Australia, they had it all, but could not hold on. Patty Mills finished with 26, Giddey was a point behind, but their run of consecutive Olympic Semi-Finals stops at two.
They said
"I just want to apologize to Dante. He is my brother. I can't begin to describe it, he's the best teammate I ever had in my life, I've said it a lot of times. We have a great relationship, but at that moment I was really tired and just wanted to commit a foul so Vasa (Micic) can sub in. I committed a really rough foul. A really rough foul. I went to talk to him, apologized, it's all good now, but... What can you do. That's life." - Aleksa Avramovic was emotional, not because of the win, but because he committed an unsportsmanlike foul and was afraid he injured his ex teammate Dante Exum
"They destroyed us, they played so well, they smelled the blood, and we didn't respond well. I don't think it was about not having the right attitude, but physically we weren't ready to respond. In this kind of a game, there's plenty of time to respond, which we did in the second and third quarter, we came back into the game." - Vasilije Micic, Serbia
"I was holding my head after the buzzer, but that's because of Patty Mills. We played together last season, and it was so tough during the season, with a lot of defeats, a lot of hard practices, so we motivated each other for the Olympics. We both knew we were going to the Olympics, and that's how we trained. He worked even harder, because he wasn't playing, and he would still show up an hour, hour and a half before anybody else and worked on his game, and that's what motivated me, too. I knew he would be ready for this game tonight, he showed that in the preparation game in Abu Dhabi, I'm just glad I won this one. He's always ready, he loves playing for the national team and I have a lot of respect for him." - Bogdan Bogdanovic on Patty Mills
"I thought we had a team in the locker room to win a tournament like this. I still do believe that. These tournaments come down to one or two possessions, and it shows how little room for error there is. I just love my teammates, our country, our coaches. Everyone's poured so much into this, and I think we deserved better. Our fans deserved better. It's just a tough pill to swallow, and we gotta wait for four years for the next one." - Josh Giddey, Australia
Quick notes
This was only the second elimination game in the Olympics to be decided in overtime, after Chile and France in 1948
Serbia won after being down by 12 at the half, becoming the first team to win an elimination game after being 12+ points down at the break
Australia are the second team to score 50+ points in the first half and end up losing the Quarter-Final, after Brazil in 1988 and 1992
Nikola Jokic became the first player with 20+ points, 10+ rebounds and 5+ assists in a single game at the Olympics since 1996
Patty Mills scored 26 points, making it his 12th game with 20+ points at the Olympics, the second most of all players in the 21st century, trailing only Pau Gasol (14)
FIBA