Croatia–Serbia basketball rivalry

External video
Srbija - Hrvatska 73:72 HRT komentator 2010 on YouTube (4:19)

The first eighth-final round match-up pitted two former Yugoslav republics against each other as Group A winner Serbia met Group B fourth-place finisher Croatia, the first meeting for the teams in a major international tournament.[5] Serbia prevailed 73–72 in a back-and-forth battle that neither team led by more than eight points at any point during the game. Milan Mačvan, Serbia's youngest player at age 20, drained a three-pointer to extend Serbia's lead to 64–57 with 4:24 remaining before Croatia began a late comeback to pull within one at 68–67 with 24 seconds left in the game. Aleksandar Rašić hit two free throws to extend the lead to three with 21 seconds left before Croatia's Marko Popović answered with two free throws of his own with 15 seconds left. Marko Tomas then stole the ensuing inbounds pass and dished to Popović, who was fouled with 11 seconds left. Popović made only one of two free throws to tie the game at 70 and set up a dramatic finish.

Serbia freed Rašić with a screen on the ensuing inbounds pass and he made an uncontested layup with nine seconds left.[6] Popović was then fouled with 5.9 seconds left, and hit both free throws to tie the game at 72. Serbia inbounded the ball to Rašić, who drove downcourt and was fouled by Croatia's Davor Kus while attempting an off-balance shot with one second left. Rašić made the first and missed the second free throw to give Serbia a one-point victory. Rašić ended up with 15 points, including eight in the fourth quarter and five in the final 21 seconds. Croatia's Popović led all scorers with 21 points to go along with five rebounds and five assists. The Oklahoma City Thunder's Nenad Krstić scored a team-high 16 points for Serbia.

4 September 2010 18:00

Boxscore

Serbia	73–72	Croatia
Scoring by quarter: 19–27, 15–9, 20–14, 19–22
Pts: Nenad Krstić 16 Rebs: Milenko Tepić 7 Asts: Milenko Tepić 4		Pts: Marko Popović 21 Rebs: Ante Tomić 8 Asts: Marko Popović 5

Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul Attendance: 15,000 Referees: Cristiano Jesus Maranho (BRA), Anthony Dewayne Jordan (USA), Scott Jason Butler (AUS)

Boxscore

Starters: Pts Reb Ast G 6 Aleksandar Rašić 15 1 3 G 4 Miloš Teodosić 3 2 2 F 8 Nemanja Bjelica 3 1 0 PF 14 Novica Veličković 7 2 0 C 12 Nenad Krstić 16 3 1 Reserves: G/F 5 Milenko Tepić 2 7 4 SG 7 Ivan Paunić 2 0 0 G 9 Stefan Marković 2 3 2 PF 10 Duško Savanović 0 1 2 SF 11 Marko Kešelj 5 3 0 C 13 Kosta Perović 10 3 0 PF 15 Milan Mačvan 8 1 0 Head coach: Dušan Ivković SRB CRO 0 SER Statistics CRO 20/38 (53%) 2-pt field goals 21/38 (55%) 5/15 (33%) 3-pt field goals 5/24 (21%) 18/25 (72%) Free throws 15/17 (88%) 7 Offensive rebounds 13 22 Defensive rebounds 23 29 Total rebounds 36 14 Assists 12 12 Turnovers 13 9 Steals 7 0 Blocks 3 14 Fouls 22 0 Starters: Pts Reb Ast PG 4 Roko Ukić 11 4 4 G/F 9 Marko Tomas 6 6 1 G/F 7 Bojan Bogdanović 9 3 1 F/C 13 Marko Banić 10 7 1 C 11 Ante Tomić 6 8 0 Reserves: G 5 Davor Kus 0 0 0 G 6 Marko Popović 21 5 5 PG 8 Rok Stipčević DNP G 10 Zoran Planinić DNP F/C 12 Krešimir Lončar 9 2 0 C 14 Luka Žorić DNP C 15 Lukša Andrić DNP Head coach: Josip Vranković

External video
Srbija - Hrvatska 80:71 Adeko Ex Yu kup finale 09.08.2011. poslednja cetvrtina on YouTube (30:03)

The 2011 game was a part of exhibition tournament for the EuroBasket 2011. Serbia had a 80–71 win over Croatia in the tournament final on 9 August 2011. Croatia led for most of the game, seven minutes before the end of the game it reached the 10 points margin, 67–57, but then played very poorly in the game closure. With a 13–0 run, Serbia took the lead, 67–70, two minutes before the end, and then increased its advantage to the final nine point lead, 71–80, by the end of the game. Croatia was led by forward Bojan Bogdanović with 17 points, while center Nenad Krstić was the most efficient in Serbia with 18 points scored.[7][8]

9 August 2011 21:00 CEST

Croatia	71–80	Serbia
Scoring by quarter: 21–18, 18–20, 21–15, 11–27
Pts: Bojan Bogdanović 17 Rebs: Ante Tomić 14 Asts: Dontaye Draper 5		Pts: Duško Savanović 17 Rebs: Nenad Krstić 8 Asts: Miloš Teodosić 6

Arena Stožice, Ljubljana Attendance: 7,000 Referees: Fernando Rocha (POR), Antonio Conde (SPA), Carmelo Paternico (ITA)

Boxscore

Starters: Pts Reb Ast G 6 Marko Popović 5 2 2 G/F 12 Krunoslav Simon 10 2 3 G/F 9 Marko Tomas 7 3 0 PF 13 Damir Markota 4 4 2 C 21 Stanko Barać 11 2 0 Reserves: C 4 Ante Tomić 13 14 2 G/F 7 Bojan Bogdanović 17 2 0 PG 8 Rok Stipčević 0 0 1 PG 10 Dontaye Draper 4 1 5 C 14 Luka Žorić 0 5 1 C 15 Lukša Andrić DNP F 20 Damjan Rudež 0 0 0 Head coach: Josip Vranković CRO SRB 0 CRO Statistics SER 24/47 (51%) 2-pt field goals 22/38 (58%) 3/13 (23%) 3-pt field goals 5/22 (23%) 14/18 (78%) Free throws 21/26 (81%) 9 Offensive rebounds 7 26 Defensive rebounds 19 35 Total rebounds 26 16 Assists 17 16 Turnovers 10 8 Steals 8 2 Blocks 1 27 Fouls 22 0 Starters: Pts Reb Ast G 4 Miloš Teodosić 4 1 6 SG 10 Uroš Tripković 6 3 1 G/F 5 Milenko Tepić 12 5 1 PF 15 Milan Mačvan 6 4 0 C 12 Nenad Krstić 16 8 0 Reserves: G 6 Aleksandar Rašić 5 1 4 G 9 Stefan Marković 10 1 2 SF 11 Marko Kešelj 0 0 0 C 13 Kosta Perović 4 0 1 PF 20 Duško Savanović 17 3 2 C 22 Boban Marjanović DNP SG 23 Dragan Milosavljević DNP Head coach: Dušan Ivković

Croatia national team was able to successfully open its London Tournament campaign with the initial 83–71 win over rival Serbia. Croatia took the lead just before the end of the first quarter (17–16), led at the half by 44–36 and reached 16-point surplus midway the last quarter before managing to stay on the top. Croatian guard Krunoslav Simon again displayed his excellent shooting stroke while leading the Croatia with 17 points (6–8 from the floor). Croatian center Ante Tomić added 13 points and 9 rebounds.[9]

16 August 2011 18:00

Boxscore

Serbia	71–83	Croatia
Scoring by quarter: 19–20, 17–24, 16–18, 19–21
Pts: Miloš Teodosić 18 Rebs: Krstić, Teodosić 5 Asts: Miloš Teodosić 4		Pts: Krunoslav Simon 17 Rebs: Ante Tomić 9 Asts: Rok Stipčević 3

Basketball Arena, London Attendance: 2,037 Referees: Vicente Bulto (SPA), Mastre (FRA), Robert Lottermoser (GER)

Boxscore

Starters: Pts Reb Ast G 4 Miloš Teodosić 18 5 4 G 6 Aleksandar Rašić 8 1 2 G/F 5 Milenko Tepić 6 1 2 PF 15 Milan Mačvan 10 3 0 C 12 Nenad Krstić 10 5 0 Reserves: SG 7 Ivan Paunić 0 1 0 G 9 Stefan Marković 5 3 2 SG 10 Uroš Tripković 5 0 1 SF 11 Marko Kešelj 3 0 0 C 13 Kosta Perović 2 4 0 PF 20 Duško Savanović 4 4 0 C 22 Boban Marjanović 0 1 0 Head coach: Dušan Ivković SRB CRO 0 SER Statistics CRO 19/38 (50%) 2-pt field goals 21/38 (55%) 7/21 (33%) 3-pt field goals 5/24 (21%) 12/24 (50%) Free throws 15/17 (88%) 12 Offensive rebounds 13 19 Defensive rebounds 23 31 Total rebounds 36 11 Assists 12 16 Turnovers 13 3 Steals 7 1 Blocks 3 27 Fouls 22 0 Starters: Pts Reb Ast Reserves: C 4 Ante Tomić 11 9 2 PG 5 Marko Car DNP G 6 Marko Popović 3 1 1 G/F 7 Bojan Bogdanović 7 2 1 PG 8 Rok Stipčević 6 1 3 G/F 9 Marko Tomas 10 2 0 PG 10 Dontaye Draper 12 1 2 PF 11 Damir Markota 2 1 1 G/F 12 Krunoslav Simon 17 1 2 C 14 Luka Žorić 1 2 0 C 15 Lukša Andrić 9 6 0 C 21 Stanko Barać 5 2 0 Head coach: Josip Vranković

The 2012 game was a part of exhibition tournament for the FIBA EuroBasket 2013 qualification in Slovenia. Croatia and Serbia had a very interesting game on the first day of the Adecco Cup on 3 August 2012. Serbia topped Croatia with final score of 90–74 and proved that they getting better form. Guard Miloš Teodosić led Serbia with great performances as he recorded 14 points, 9 assists and 4 rebounds. Forward Zoran Erceg added 14 points and Duško Savanović scored 13 points. It was obvious at the game that Serbia is much better team. Serbian coach Dušan Ivković even used last quarter to practice offense and defense combinations.[10][11]

3 August 2012 18:00 CEST

Croatia	74–90	Serbia
Scoring by quarter: 16–23, 23–22, 14–21, 21–24
Pts: Roko Ukić 14 Rebs: Damir Markota 6 Asts: Roko Ukić 4		Pts: Erceg, Teodosić 14 Rebs: Štimac, Tepić 6 Asts: Miloš Teodosić 9

Arena Stožice, Ljubljana Attendance: 1,000 Referees: Matej Boltauzer (SLO), Matej Špendl (SLO), Boris Krejić (SLO)

Boxscore

Starters: Pts Reb Ast G 4 Roko Ukić 14 4 4 G/F 11 Krunoslav Simon 8 2 1 SF 10 Luka Babić 5 1 0 PF 12 Damir Markota 7 6 3 C 5 Lukša Andrić 7 2 0 Reserves: SG 6 Goran Vrbanc 3 0 0 SF 7 Pavle Marčinković 0 0 0 PG 8 Rok Stipčević 10 2 2 F 9 Damjan Rudež 10 1 2 SG 13 Fran Pilepić 0 4 0 C 14 Luka Žorić 10 2 1 C 15 Darko Planinić 0 0 0 Head coach: Jasmin Repeša CRO SRB 0 CRO Statistics SER 19/41 (46%) 2-pt field goals 23/35 (66%) 8/12 (67%) 3-pt field goals 9/28 (32%) 12/17 (71%) Free throws 17/21 (81%) 4 Offensive rebounds 8 23 Defensive rebounds 23 27 Total rebounds 31 14 Assists 21 17 Turnovers 9 2 Steals 1 0 Blocks 0 24 Fouls 23 0 Starters: Pts Reb Ast G 4 Miloš Teodosić 14 4 9 G/F 13 Danilo Anđušić 3 0 1 SF 24 Vladimir Lučić 7 1 0 PF 14 Zoran Erceg 14 5 0 C 23 Vladimir Štimac 9 6 0 Reserves: G/F 5 Milenko Tepić 7 6 0 G 6 Aleksandar Rašić 6 1 4 G/F 7 Ivan Paunić 2 0 1 C 9 Mile Ilić 0 0 0 PF 10 Duško Savanović 13 3 4 SF 11 Marko Kešelj 6 1 0 PF 15 Milan Mačvan 9 1 2 Head coach: Dušan Ivković

On 23 August 2013, Serbia won over Croatia with an 88–71 score, in the first round of the Spor Toto World Cup in Istanbul, Turkey. The Dušan Ivković's team was much better for the most part of the interesting match. They gained a six-point lead at halftime, the Croats then tried to return to the match, but the Serbian players routinely secured a convincing victory with an excellent game in the last quarter. Success against a quality rival is a great encouragement for the Serbian team before participating in the EuroBasket 2013 in Slovenia, and the tournament in Istanbul is the last test before the continental competition. The most efficient in the winning team were captain Nenad Krstić with 19, Raško Katić with 18 and Nemanja Bjelica with 14 points, while Marko Tomas stood out in the Croatian team with 16 points.[12][13][14][15]

23 August 2013 16:15

Report

Croatia	71–88	Serbia
Scoring by quarter: 13–21, 22–20, 22–21, 14–26
Pts: Marko Tomas 16 Rebs: Tomić, Tomas 6 Asts: Bojan Bogdanović 5		Pts: Nenad Krstić 19 Rebs: Nenad Krstić 9 Asts: Nemanja Bjelica 4

Ülker Sports Arena, Istanbul Attendance: not available Referees: not available

Boxscore

Starters: Pts Reb Ast PG 10 Roko Ukić SF 7 Bojan Bogdanović 7 2 5 F 8 Damjan Rudež PF 12 Damir Markota 7 6 3 C 4 Ante Tomić 8 5 Reserves: C 5 Lukša Andrić 4 2 PG 6 Dontaye Draper 11 4 G/F 9 Marko Tomas 16 5 2 G/F 11 Krunoslav Simon 8 2 1 F/C 13 Mario Delaš C 14 Darko Planinić SG 15 Ante Delaš PF Dario Šarić Head coach: Jasmin Repeša CRO SRB 0 CRO Statistics SER 2-pt field goals 3-pt field goals Free throws Offensive rebounds Defensive rebounds Total rebounds Assists Turnovers Steals Blocks Fouls 0 Starters: Pts Reb Ast G 9 Stefan Marković 3 2 2 G Nemanja Nedović 2 1 F 25 Nikola Kalinić 5 7 F 8 Nemanja Bjelica 14 5 4 C 12 Nenad Krstić 19 9 2 Reserves: SG 7 Bogdan Bogdanović 6 1 1 G/F 13 Danilo Anđušić 8 C 14 Raško Katić 18 1 1 G Vasilije Micić 4 2 3 C Đorđe Gagić 2 Head coach: Dušan Ivković

External video
Kosarkaski turnir u Pau, Francuska 2014. - Srbija - Hrvatska on YouTube (1:48:28)

Croatia suffered its second defeat at the exhibition tournament in Pau, France, after losing to Serbia 83–84 in overtime on 9 August 2014. In an equal match three minutes before the end, Croatia led 68–60, but the Serbs made 10–0 run in two minutes and took the lead 70–68. But then Croatian guard Oliver Lafayette scored a three-pointer and two free throws for the lead of the Croats 73–70. However, Serbian forward Marko Simonović scored 20 seconds before the game end and tied at 73–73 and the game went into overtime. In the additional five minutes, Croatia was in the lead, but six seconds before the end, Serbian guard Bogdan Bogdanović scored a three-pointer for Serbia's 84–83 lead. In the last run, Croatia tried through forward Bojan Bogdanović, but he missed a three-pointer and Serbia won 84–83 in the end. Serbia took what was offered, and Croatia suffered its defeat. Bojan Bogdanović was the best Croatian scorer with 19 points, and Luka Žorić 13, Damjan Rudež 11, Krunoslav Simon 11, and Oliver Lafayette scored 10 points. The Serbs were led by Marko Simonović with 24 points, Nemanja Bjelica scored 15 points and Miroslav Raduljica with 13 points joined them.[16][17][18][19]

9 August 2014 N/A

Serbia	84–83 (OT)	Croatia
Scoring by quarter: 16–9, 18–20, 18–22, 21–22, Overtime: 11–10
Pts: Marko Simonović 24 Rebs: Miroslav Raduljica 5 Asts: not available		Pts: Bojan Bogdanović 19 Rebs: not available Asts: not available

Palais des Sports de Pau, Pau Attendance: not available Referees: not available

The Croats were better for most of the first half. The central player in the composition of the Croats was Krunoslav Simon. By entering the game of Nemanja Nedović Serbia accelerated the game, a series of points from the transition followed, so the nine points minus was reduced to only one. Since Serbian guard Miloš Teodosić was not in the team, the Croats closed all the approaches under the basket, and conditionally speaking, they fired from a distance. Serbia was not served by a shot, but the other guys were up to the task, especially in defense. In the end, in the first half, Croatia led with 40–36. Simon scored 15 points, on the other hand, the central figure in the Serbian team was center Miroslav Raduljica with 11 points. At the beginning of the third section, with a triple by Bogdan Bogdanović, Serbia took the lead with 50–48. The main problem was still the Krunoslav Simon-Dario Šarić duo. Even then, it was clear that a match awaited us in which the nuances would decide. Croatian forward Bojan Bogdanović set up the targets, Raduljica kept Serbia in the game. Five minutes before the end, after Rok Stipčević's triple, the score was tied at 70–70. The Croats have scored 10 three-pointers so far. An uncertain ending followed. Serbian guard Stefan Marković hit a three-pointer for 79–77. Serbian guard Stefan Jović hit a three-pointer in the last second of the attack for 82–77. Croatia was broken at the time. More precisely, a miracle should have happened so that they could return to the match with the Croats. The mistake of the Croats, Nikola Kalinić's dunk from the counter, Bogdanovic's points and practically everything was clear.[20][21][22]

1 August 2016 18:00 (UTC−3)

Report

Serbia	86–77	Croatia
Scoring by quarter: 16–19, 20–21, 28–20, 22–17
Pts: Miroslav Raduljica 17 Rebs: four players 5 Asts: Bogdan Bogdanović 4		Pts: Bojan Bogdanović 18 Rebs: Dario Šarić 9 Asts: Krunoslav Simon 3

Orfeo Superdomo, Córdoba Attendance: not available Referees: Roberto Smith (USA), Gabriel Tarifeño (ARG), Aníbal Brites (ARG)

External video
Croatia vs Serbia - Rio 2016 Basketball Men's Quarter Final Full Game - 17 Aug 2016 on YouTube (1:56:41)

Serbia defeated Croatia, 86–83, in the last quarterfinal of the Olympic Basketball Tournament on 17 August 2016 to set up a semifinal clash with Australia.

In the closest game of the day, the Serbs saw a 14-point third quarter lead melt away in the final frame as Croatia got within one several times down the stretch. But with time running out on them, Serbia had to foul to stop the clock and Serbians Miloš Teodosić and Nikola Jokić made good on their trips to the free-throw line in the final 18 seconds. There was little to separate the two teams in the first half, with Serbia up 20–19 at the end of the opening period and Croatia taking a 38–32 advantage at the break. Serbia took control thanks to a third quarter in which they outscored Croatia 34–14. They took their biggest lead of the night, 66–52, when guard Bogdan Bogdanović buried a three-pointer with 22 seconds left in the period. Croatia answered by going on a 22–7 run that got them within 74–73 on Darko Planinić's pair of free-throws with 3:26 remaining. Serbia stayed in front but Croatia were breathing down their neck. The Serbian side got a bit of breathing room when Miroslav Raduljica made the second of two foul shots to make it 79–75 with 27 seconds and that forced Croatia in having to foul intentionally to stop the clock but ultimately running out of time.[23][24][25][26][27]

Had Serbia rolled to a comfortable win on the back of their impressive third quarter, a great turning point could have been in the shape of Raduljica's postering dunk over Croatian forward Dario Šarić in transition for a 41–40 lead with 6:50 left to play in the period. Instead, the real turning point really came down to Serbia knocking down 6-of-6 free-throws in the dying seconds of the game. Serbia got 39 points from their reserves, compared to 26 for Croatia. Bogdanović (game-high 18 points before fouling out), Stefan Jović (9 points and 4 rebounds) and Milan Mačvan (8 points and 3 rebounds) each played key roles in the outcome of this game. Teodosić and Jokić didn't have huge games offensively, the former going only 2-of-11 for 9 points and the latter 3-of-8 for 12 points. But Teodosić handed out 10 assists and both players stepped up when it counted the most, knocking down shots from the charity stripe with the game on the line.[23][24][28][27]

17 August 2016 22:15

Boxscore

Croatia	83–86	Serbia
Scoring by quarter: 19–20, 19–12, 14–34, 31–20
Pts: Bojan Bogdanović 28 Rebs: Darko Planinić 9 Asts: Krunoslav Simon 5		Pts: Bogdan Bogdanović 18 Rebs: three players 4 Asts: Miloš Teodosić 10

Carioca Arena 1, Rio de Janeiro Attendance: 9,027 Referees: Juan García (ESP), Borys Ryzhyk (UKR), Roberto Vázquez (PUR)

Boxscore

Starters: Pts Reb Ast PG 10 Roko Ukić 4 1 4 SG 7 Krunoslav Simon 8 2 5 G/F 44 Bojan Bogdanović 28 3 2 F 9 Dario Šarić 7 4 1 C 15 Miro Bilan 10 4 0 Reserves: SF 4 Luka Babić 4 1 2 SG 5 Filip Krušlin DNP PG 6 Rok Stipčević DNP G/F 8 Mario Hezonja 16 8 2 C 12 Darko Planinić 6 9 0 SF 33 Željko Šakić DNP C 35 Marko Arapović DNP Head coach: Aleksandar Petrović CRO SRB 0 CRO Statistics SER 16/32 (50%) 2-pt field goals 21/48 (44%) 7/19 (37%) 3-pt field goals 8/23 (35%) 30/38 (79%) Free throws 20/25 (80%) 10 Offensive rebounds 14 29 Defensive rebounds 21 39 Total rebounds 35 16 Assists 22 18 Turnovers 10 3 Steals 10 0 Blocks 2 28 Fouls 31 0 Starters: Pts Reb Ast G 9 Stefan Marković 12 4 3 G 4 Miloš Teodosić 9 2 10 F 10 Nikola Kalinić 6 4 0 PF 25 Milan Mačvan 8 3 0 C 13 Miroslav Raduljica 12 3 0 Reserves: SF 5 Marko Simonović 0 1 0 SG 7 Bogdan Bogdanović 18 1 5 G 11 Nemanja Nedović 0 0 0 PF 12 Stefan Birčević DNP F/C 14 Nikola Jokić 12 3 3 C 15 Vladimir Štimac 0 2 0 PG 24 Stefan Jović 9 4 1 Head coach: Aleksandar Đorđević