Croatia has beaten Spain 72-70 in the first round of the group stage at the Olympic basketball tournament
It seems that August 7, 2016 was not the day for favorites at the Olympics. The Croatian handball team was considered the favorite against Qatar, and failed to win. In the evening, their basketball colleagues faced probably the toughest opponent from the group stage, the reigning European champions – the Spanish team led by Pau Gasol, and stunned the basketball world with yet another sensational win.
It is tough to single out any player, as they played great team defense, and they did all that can be given on the basketball court in Rio tonight, but as Pau Gasol had the ball in his hands in the dying seconds of the game and tried a shot, it looked like the match would go into overtime. At that crucial moment, Dario Šarić emerged from nowhere on the court of Carioca Arena and blocked that shot, NBA style. When the final whistle blew, Croatia had held on for a famous 72-70 victory.
Bojan Bogdanović scored 23 points tonight, Darko Planinić added 11, with 6 rebounds, and Kruno Simon scored 10, and added 5 rebounds and 4 assists.
On Tuesday night in Rio, or Wednesday early morning in Central European Time, Croatia will play against Argentina, one more tough match for the Croatian basketball team, but it seems only the sky is the limit for them at the moment.
