Jokic Scores 34, France Edges Serbia in Orleans

Four seconds left, Serbia’s bench already on its feet, and Marko Guduric draws contact and drops in a basket that puts the Eagles back in front, 90-89. For a moment in the arena in Orleans, it looked like one of the biggest comebacks in national team history was about to be finished off in style. Then Jaylen Hoard, left completely alone under the basket, takes the pass and lays it in right on the buzzer. France 91, Serbia 90, and a home crowd that had gone silent ten minutes earlier suddenly has something to celebrate.

Everything before that final exchange had been two very different games stitched together. France came out aggressive, solved its possessions quickly, and led 10-4 inside three minutes, enough for Dusan Alimpijevic to call an early timeout. Still, the first quarter ended just five points apart, 27-22, after Guduric’s buzzer-beating three trimmed the damage. What followed for the rest of the first half was far worse for Serbia. The hosts kept the pressure on through Victor Wembanyama and Timothe Luwawu and went into the break up 19, 54-35.

With a scoreline like that, most national teams would have chalked the game up as lost and saved their legs for Friday. Serbia instead came out for the second half with a completely different approach. Nikola Jokic took over the ball and the game at the same time, scoring and setting up teammates in turns, and the team started chipping away at the lead basket by basket. The third quarter ended 68-62 for France, six points instead of nineteen, and the fourth delivered real drama.

Threes from Nikola Jovic and Ognjen Dobric tied the game and then put Serbia in front, only for Sylvain Francisco to answer with an 8-0 run that swung it back the hosts’ way. Just when the outcome looked settled, Serbia clawed back one more time and retook the lead through Guduric, before Hoard closed it out on the final possession.

Jokic was the most productive player on the floor, finishing with 34 points, 13 rebounds and 5 assists, the kind of line expected from him when Serbia plays without captain Bogdan Bogdanovic and the center carries the armband on his own. Jovic added 13 points, Guduric 11. For France, Francisco finished with 20 points and Wembanyama with 18, along with several key defensive possessions directly against Jokic.

This was a rematch, the second meeting between the two teams in just three days. In the first game, played in front of a full Belgrade Arena, Serbia won 90-87, and it was Jokic who decided that one in the closing seconds too. In Orleans the roles flipped, but the message stayed the same: the two sides are evenly matched, and everything comes down to the final possessions.

For Alimpijevic and his squad, a break from exhibition games is next before the serious part of the summer begins. On Friday, August 28, Serbia opens the second phase of 2027 World Cup qualifying at Belgrade Arena against Iceland, and just three days later, on August 31, travels to Pesaro to face Italy.

The loss in Orleans does not change much in the picture ahead of qualifying. Even 19 points down, in a game it ultimately lost, Serbia showed it can fight back from any deficit, and that matters more than the final score. It will need that same third and fourth quarter energy on Friday against Iceland, when the points from a friendly will no longer be worth anything.