Shanghai • Serbia’s push toward unseating the U.S. as World Cup champion is off and running.
Bogdan Bogdanovic made his first four 3-point attempts to help his team take control early on, All-NBA center Nikola Jokic didn’t even start and the Serbians still had plenty on the way to easing past Angola 105-59 on Saturday in the first game of the World Cup.
“We played a great game from the beginning until the end,” Serbia forward Nikola Milutinov said. “We were tough. We were strong. Mentally we were ready.”
Bogdanovic scored 24 points on 8-for-10 shooting for Serbia (1-0 in Group D), which lost gold-medal games to the U.S. at the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
The lead was 50-32 at the half, and Serbia — which has made clear that it came to this World Cup believing it can win gold — opened the third quarter on a 15-2 burst to turn the game into a runaway.
“It’s a good start,” Serbia coach Sasha Djordjevic said. “But it’s just the start. It’s a long way. We know how to get to where we want to be. We just have to stay humble, stay focused.”
Jokic and Milutinov each had 14 for the winners, and Boban Marjanovic added 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jokic was 3 for 3 from 3-point range, and Serbia went 13 for 20 from long range.
Carlos Morais scored 15 for Angola, which was outrebounded 41-19 and shot only 36%. Leonel Paulo scored 10 for Angola. Take the combined 10 for 18 shooting by Morais and Paulo away, and the rest of the Angolan lineup shot 11 for 41 — 27%.
“We didn’t play the style of play consistently enough to have a chance to compete with them,” said Angola coach Will Voigt, a native of Cabot, Vermont.
Angola center Yanick Moreira was less diplomatic.
“We got ... kicked. That’s it,” Moreira said. “I’m sorry about my language, but I don’t want to embarrass my country. When you come to the World Cup, you’ve got to be ready to play.”
Serbia used 11 of its 12 players by the end of the first quarter The only Serbian who didn’t play was Nemanja Bjelica, sidelined with what Djordjevic said was knee inflammation caused by a cyst. Bjelica will be re-evaluated on Sunday.
Spain 101, Tunisia 62 • In Guangzhou, Spain led 42-39 at the half before outscoring Tunisia 59-23 after intermission. Ricky Rubio scored 17 points and Sergio Llull 16 for Spain, which finished with six players in double figures. Salah Mejri led Tunisia with 15 points.
Puerto Rico 83, Iran 81 • In Guangzhou, David Huertas scored 32 points, Javier Mojica’s bank shot with 0.7 seconds left was the winner and Puerto Rico prevailed despite being down by 17 with 7:55 remaining. Gary Browne scored 12 for Puerto Rico in a Group C opener. Hamed Haddadi and Behnam Yakhchalidehkordi each scored 22 for Iran. Huertas tied the game with a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left, then made another 3 with 16.1 ticks remaining for a 3-point lead. Haddadi made a deep 3-pointer from the right wing with 4.4 seconds left, but Mojica took an inbounds pass on the ensuing Puerto Rico possession and connected from the left side of the lane for the deciding points.
Poland 80, Venezuela 69 • In Beijing, Poland got its first World Cup win in 52 years. Michal Sokolowski scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds, and Poland — back in the World Cup for the first time since 1967 — topped Venezuela in a Group A opener. Mateusz Ponitka scored 15 for the winners, and Poland finished with five players in double figures. Pedro Chourio scored 15 for Venezuela.
Russia 82, Nigeria 77 • In Wuhan, Russia rallied in the final minutes to hold off Nigeria and get what may be a key win in Group B. Mikhail Kulagin led the Russians with 16 points. Nigeria had six players in double figures, led by 18 from Josh Okogie. His 3-pointer midway through the fourth quarter put Nigeria up 71-63, but the Russians ended the game on a 19-6 run.
China 70, Ivory Coast 55 • In Beijing, in a game tied at the half, China ran away in the final two quarters to open its home World Cup with a win. Yi Jianlian scored 19 points, Guo Ailun had 17 and Zhou Qi added 12 for the Chinese, who shot 53% and held Ivory Coast to 29% shooting. Guy Landry Edi led Ivory Coast with 10 points.
Italy 108, Philippines 62 • In Foshan, Italy opened the game on a 37-8 run and never looked back behind 17 points apiece from Luigi Datome and Amedeo Della Valle. Danilo Gallinari added 16 for Italy. Andray Blatche had 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Philippines, and Jaymar Perez scored 15 as well.
Argentina 95, South Korea 69 • At Wuhan, Nicolas Laprovittola scored 17 points and Luis Scola had 15 as Argentina cruised in its opener. Guna Ra was dominant in defeat, finishing with 31 points and 15 rebounds for South Korea.
