The EuroBasket 2022 is the 41st edition of the
EuroBasket championship that is organized by
FIBA Europe. It will be the first since it was agreed it would take place every four years, with a similar system of qualification as for the
FIBA Basketball World Cup. It was originally scheduled to take place between 2 and 19 September 2021, but due to the
COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent postponement of the
2020 Summer Olympics to 2021, it has been postponed to 1 to 18 September 2022. Like the previous two editions, the tournament will be co-hosted by four countries. Games in the group stage will be held in the
Czech Republic,
Georgia,
Germany, and
Italy. The knock-out phase will be played in
Berlin, Germany.
Preliminary round The draw took place on 29 April 2021 in Berlin. Serbia was drawn into Group D with , , , , and and played all of its group phase matches in
Prague, Czech Republic, at the
O2 Arena from 2–8 September. The top four teams advanced to the
knockout stage. ;Results by round
All times are local (UTC+2). Netherlands Center
Nikola Milutinov was out of the Serbian roster due to health issues. It is the second highest scoring game for Serbia in the EuroBasket history. Guard Micić became the second Serbian player with a 15+ points and 10+ assists game, as well as the 16th Serbian player with a
double-double at a major tournament since 1995. •
TCL Player of the Game:
Nikola Jokić and
Vasilije Micić Czech Republic Center
Nikola Milutinov was out of the Serbian roster due to health issues, Serbian center Jokić recorded his third double-double at a major tournament, becoming the fourth player since 1995 to do so. Backed by their 5,000 traveling fans and led by their NBA star,
Lauri Markkanen, Finland hoped they could make life difficult for Serbia on Monday. The
2017 runners-up however responded with a statement win, 100–70, which lifts them to 3–0 in Group D. Serbia missed only two shots in the first six and a half minutes, dished out 8 assists on 11 field goals and scored 26 points by that point already. Finland made a run to reduce the deficit to 33–22 at the end of the first quarter, but a merciless 11–0 Serbian run made it clear that there will be no upset in Prague. Serbia had 62 at the half, Finland passed that mark only at the 2:07 mark in the fourth quarter. Meaning, Serbia scored more in 20 minutes than Finland in 38. Serbian coach
Svetislav Pešić showed a masterful display of out-pacing Finland, matching their intensity by going even harder after them, and balancing out the minutes and roles for all his players. The one who shined the brightest was once again
Nikola Jokić, with 13 points, 14 rebounds and 7 assists. Also in double digits:
Vasilije Micić (14 points, 7 assists),
Nemanja Nedović (14 points),
Nikola Kalinić (13 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds),
Vladimir Lučić (12 points) and
Marko Gudurić (11 points). Serbia's high percentages were due to their good looks all game long. They got 44 points in the paint, exactly the double of Finland's tally in the key. •
TCL Player of the Game:
Svetislav Pešić Israel A Serbian guard
Vanja Marinković did not suit up for the second game, still recovering from his stomach issues. Israel put up a fight, came within two points in the fourth quarter, but a quick Serbian 14–0 run put the game out of their reach. Serbia were bothered by Israel's matchup zone, but still able to stay in front for most of the game. Their biggest lead was by 18 points, however Israeli
Deni Avdija (also holding Serbian citizenship) decided to make things interesting. With his scoring, passing and elite defense that saw him guard everybody from Serbian guard
Vasilije Micić to center
Nikola Jokić, Israel went on an inspired run to reduce the gap to 65–63 in the fourth quarter. That only made the Serbian machine switch to a higher speed. A swift 14–0 run wasn't powered by Jokić nor Micić. Serbian guard
Ognjen Jaramaz exploded and collected 10 points, guiding Serbia back towards double digit lead, and ultimately to their fourth win in four tries. Jokić had 29 points on 11-of-13 shooting, with 11 rebounds and 5 assists. His defense was also on the highest possible level, 4 steals and 2 blocks got him an efficiency rating of 46, a game-high by some distance and a new tournament high. Serbia had 10 steals, forced 17 turnovers, went +11 in fast break points, more than enough to win this. Serbia once again had Micić in a good mood, 19 points, and forward
Nikola Kalinić was also in double figures with 10. Jokić became the first Serbian with a double-double in three games in a row, as well as the first Serbian player with a 25+ points and 10+ rebounds game at EuroBasket. •
TCL Player of the Game:
Nikola Jokić Poland Serbian guard
Nemanja Nedović is out of the Serbian roster due to injury, while guard
Vanja Marinković returns. Serbia were the clear favorite to win their Group, and they delivered with a perfect record, two wins clear of everyone else. Serbian center
Nikola Jokić sat out the fourth quarter, and still was the best player in a 96–69 win over Poland on Thursday that concluded group action. He looked inspired as he collected 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting, done in less than 18 minutes on the floor. Serbia finished the group stage at 5–0, Poland fell to 3–2. Finland, who had the tiebreaker over the Poles take second place in the group and hence coach
Igor Miličić and his men drop to third place in the final standings. There were a number of short runs by Serbia that handed them a double digit lead early on, and it kept growing all the way until they got to 52–33 at the break. Poland was trailing by 13 early on in the third quarter, but a timeout by coach
Svetislav Pešić resulted in Serbia pulling away decisively for a 25-point lead by the end of the period. Serbia dominated the boxscore, but perhaps the best indicator of their exhibition were the points in the pain, where they oustcored Poland 48–22. Serbia were perfect in Prague and got better with each passing game. Serbian center
Nikola Milutinov made his EuroBasket 2022 debut with 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field. •
TCL Player of the Game:
Nikola Jokić Knockout stage Serbia finished as the group winner in its preliminary group and advanced to the
Round of 16 of the EuroBasket and will play against the fourth placed team of
Group C, which is , in
Berlin, Germany, at the
Mercedes-Benz Arena on 11 September.
Round of 16 Serbian guard
Nemanja Nedović is out of the Serbian roster due to injury. Serbia won over Italy in an exhibition
game at DBB Supercup in Hamburg on 19 August. Italy pulled off the first upset of the Round of 16 with a 94–86 shock over Serbia to reach the Quarter-Finals. One summer after surprising Serbia in the Final of the
2020 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade to reach the
Tokyo Games, Italy worked their team basketball magic again – and doing it without head coach
Gianmarco Pozzecco who was ejected in the third quarter. Serbia raced ahead by 11 points in the first quarter and the cushion grew to 14 points in the second quarter. Italy came back and were hanging tough down just 61–57 with under 5 minutes left in the third quarter when Pozzecco left the court in tears after being ejected from the game with a second technical foul. Italy took the lead 66–63 and were down 68–66 after 30 minutes. But Italy opened the fourth quarter with a 16–2 run to lead 82–70. Serbia could not regain the momentum. Italian guard
Marco Spissu came up for an incredible second half as the Italian guard poured in 19 of his 22 points in the final 20 minutes. He also finished the game with 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals.
Nikola Jokić's 32 points and 13 rebounds were not enough for Serbia. Italy shot 36.2 percent from three-point range on 32 attempts per game in the Group Phase and then made 16-of-38 for 42.0 percent against Serbia. Italy committed only 7 turnovers and forced Serbia into 16 miscues for an advantage of 16–6 in points off turnovers. Italy held Serbia to 10.0 percent below their field goal shooting and 11.0 percent below their two-point shooting. •
TCL Player of the Game:
Marco Spissu (ITA) == Awards ==