Germany beat Serbia to win the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup
Germany were crowned the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup champions, their first world title ever, after a close encounter in the final, defeating Serbia in front of 12,022 fans in the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila. Final score: 83-77.
This is the second time they finished on the podium, after picking up bronze back in Indianapolis in 2002. Serbia finished second for the second time in last three World Cups, they lost the Final to the United States back in 2014.
The high scoring first half saw the game tied at 47-all after 20 minutes of run and gun basketball, but after the halftime, coach Svetislav Pesic had to tune his lineup with his key defender Ognjen Dobric rolling an ankle and not being able to get back into the game.
Germany took full advantage, they could get into their flow of offense, while defensively putting a lot of trust in Johannes Voigtmann to take Nikola Milutinov one-on-one. The trust paid off, Serbia’s offense went cold, Germany opened a 64-53 lead with 2:18 to play in the third.
Serbia did not go away that easily, though. Aleksa Avramovic fueled another energetic comeback, closing the gap to 71-64 with 7:22 to play. When he knocked down the corner three-pointer to cut it to 73-69, the roof nearly went off the arena with the noise.
It looked like Germany are going to overcome that once again, with Voigtmann’s exact same response from the other left corner, but even when the gap was +9, Avramovic kept Serbia dreaming.
He hit six straight points to enter the final 1:21 of the game down by a single possession at 78-75.
Marko Guduric had a chance to tie the game from the right corner after a Bogdan Bogdanovic steal, but missed the shot, allowing Germany to take another two-possession lead.
When Guduric scored to make it 79-77, coach Gordie Herbert gave the ball to his superstar. Dennis Schroder delivered, hitting the clutch layup to make it 81-77 with 21.4 seconds left in the game.
There was no comeback after that, Serbia turned the ball over, Schroder just set the final score from the line.
Serbia committed 12 turnovers, but nine of those were also Germany’s steals, meaning they beat Serbia in their own game. That led to a 19-12 edge in points from turnovers, not exactly a mind blowing advantage, but when you consider Serbia usually won that category with ease at this World Cup, it’s clear why coach Gordie Herbert will enjoy this basketball nation.
