He returned to his bench with a big smile. Filip Petrusev had just scored a 3-point basket, after a pick-and-pop. Then to sign a second, on the next possession, still under the eyes of a good specialist in the genre, Jonas Valanciunas.
With his two winning shots in a row, the new interior of the Sixers gave his team a surreal 25-point lead (82-57), against Lithuania, six minutes from the end of this World Cup quarter-final. The substitute thus ended the meeting with 17 points and maximum efficiency in shooting (7/8 in shots including 3/3 from afar), 6 rebounds and 2 assists in 17 minutes.
Would we have witnessed his best match in the Serbian jersey? “You have to ask him. But I like the way he played. He rose to the challenge playing against Valanciunas and (Donatas)Motiejunas. He had an extraordinary game. It’s not for nothing that he is in the NBA », congratulates Marko Guduric whose teammate signed up this summer with Philadelphia, two years after his draft (50th choice).
One thing is certain, the 23-year-old rookie signed his best performance of the competition, for Serbia’s most important match. He had already scored 14 points in the previous match against the Dominican Republic. Hampered by a sprained ankle, he had however missed two games in the first round, before signing a game without a point scored against Italy.
His best game then? ” On the biggest stage, that’s for sure. I got injured in the first matches, so I’m not where I should be physically yet. But I’m glad I could help (Nikola) Milutinov, who had a lot of work today in defense against Valanciunas. For me, it was an opportunity to show myself, especially in attack », appreciates former Red Star Belgrade playersaluting the performance of Bogdan Bogdanovic, a “ good captain “.
The dominant pivot opposite was thus contained to 11 points and 4 rebounds in 19 minutes, while Serbia crushed Lithuania in terms of the number of points scored in the racket (48-24).
” We defended against him. We didn’t let him go in his areas of play. Milutinov is massive, he was the first to make it difficult for him. He tired him. And when he tired, it was easier to play with the substitutes “, Continues Petrusev who is preparing his next entry into the big league well.
