PARIS — Nikola Jokic had 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Serbia surged back to beat Australia 95-90 in overtime Tuesday to reach the Olympic basketball semifinals.
Bogdan Bogdanovic added 17 for points for Serbia, which rallied from a 24-point first-half deficit to set up a meeting with either the U.S. or Brazil.
Serbia is aiming for its first Olympic medal since the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, where it took silver. That was the first Olympics for a then 21-year-old Jokic.
Bogdanovic acknowledged doubting whether they’d complete the comeback.
“Honestly, we didn’t keep cool,” Bogdanovic said. “But we knew we were down and we needed to find some momentum and rhythm. … They had the whole momentum of the game. As I said, this is the biggest pressure of the tournament. Quarterfinals. You know if you lose, you’re out.”
Patty Mills had 26 points — but just six after halftime — for Australia, which won the Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo three years ago. Josh Giddey added 25 points.
“I thought we threw everything at them,” Mills said. “We’re playing against world-class individuals. World-class teams. World-class coaches. And this is why you play international basketball. It’s a different sport than any other league around the world. It brings the best out of everyone.”
Jokic put Serbia on top 91-90 with just over a minute left in overtime. Australia’s Jack McVeigh then misfired on its next possession. Serbia got the ball back to Jokic, who converted again.
Australia attempted to get the ball into Mills on the inbounds, but it was knocked away and stolen by Serbia.
Serbia stormed back in the third quarter and retook the lead late, 61-60, on a jumper by Bogdanovic. The basket capped a 40-14 scoring run.
Serbia led 67-65 entering the fourth and was up 81-78 when Giddey hit a short jumper to cut the margin to a point with just over a minute to play in regulation.
Australia rebounded a Bogdanovic miss, but Mills misfired on the other end. Australia forced a Vasilije Micic error, but he was fouled on the rebound with 9.8 seconds left. He then connected on 1 of 2 free throws.
Australia got the ball into Mills, who lost his dribble, gathered and hit a fallaway jumper to send the game to an extra frame.
