April 16, 2019 - In an exclusive interview for Dnevnik Nova TV on Monday, Croatian basketballer Dario Šarić spoke about the NBA season behind him and the collapse of the Croatia national team. 

The regular season of the NBA league is now over, and Croatia will have two representatives in the playoffs - Bojan Bogdanović and Ivica Zubac.

Two days ago, Mario Hezonja became only the second Croatian basketball player after Toni Kukoč to hit a triple-double in the NBA league. Now, he’s set a new career record. 

Croatian basketball player Mario Hezonja played the best match of his NBA career against his former team, Orlando Magic. Despite the New York Knicks defeat (114:100), coach David Fizdale praised Hezonja after the game and revealed that he was the one to motivate the Croatian player.

Ivica Zubac and his Los Angeles Clippers have moved into 5th place in the NBA's Western Conference, which secures them a spot in the playoffs. 

The Los Angeles Clippers celebrated at Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks 124:113 in the first match of the Sunday NBA program. In the battle of two Croatian basketball players, Clippers’ center Ivica Zubac was better than Marijo Hezonja, reports Index.hr on March 24, 2019. 

Both were members of their team’s starting lineup on Sunday. Zubac spent 20 minutes in the game, and during that time scored 10 points with 4/5 shots in play, ten rebounds, one assist, and one block. Hezonja was on the court for 25 and a half minutes, scoring six points (2/9 shots in play, 0/3 three-pointers), and added five rebounds, three assists, and one block.

The Clippers’ 44th win this season was led by Lou Williams who scored 29 points and seven assists, Danilo Gallinari with 26 points and eight rebounds and Montrezl Harrell with 24 points. In their 60th defeat this season, Knight Emmanuel Mudiay scored 26 points, and DeAndre Jordan had 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks. 

The Clippers have almost and theoretically secured the playoffs while New York is at the bottom of the charts with convincingly the worst record in the NBA league this season.

In other NBA news, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dario Šarić defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 112:99, while the Croatian basketball player participated with 11 points (shots in play 3/9, three-pointers 3/6), four rebounds, three assists, and one steal and one block.

The top scorer for Minnesota, which broke a series of five defeats, was Karl-Anthony Towns with 33 points and 23 rebounds. Andrew Wiggins added 22 points and Josh Okogie 17. Mike Conley led Memphis with 23 points.

The Phoenix Suns and Dragan Bender recorded another defeat over the weekend, losing 112:103 to the Sacramento Kings. Bender, who played in the starting lineup, hit four baskets (shots in play 2/6, three-pointers 0/3) in 36 minutes on the court, adding four rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

Bojan Bogdanović had another stellar game over the weekend, scoring 35 points in his Pacers’ win against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. The Croatian also added six rebounds and three assists. Ante Žižić’s Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Milwaukee Bucks 127:105. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

Bojan Bogdanović and his Indiana Pacers lost to Ivica Zubac and the Los Angeles Clippers at the Staples Center on Tuesday. 

Bojan Bogdanović continued leading his Indiana Pacers with excellent form in the Eastern Conference before the playoffs.

29-year-old Bojan Bogdanović continues his thrilling NBA season for the Indiana Pacers and scored an average of 27.2 points in the last five games.

Bojan Bogdanović played the best match of the season and scored 37 points against Dario Šarić’s Minnesota Timberwolves. 

The Indiana Pacers defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 122:115 on Thursday night, though the real highlight of the win was Croatian player Bojan Bogdanovć, who scored 37 points (shots in play 13/22, three-pointers 4/7) and added seven rebounds and four assists, reports Gol.hr on March 1, 2019. 

Not even the brilliant evening of Karl-Anthony Towns who scored 42 points and 17 rebounds could help Minnesota, and Dario Šarić finished the game with seven points and eight rebounds.

“Everything we need is in the dressing room. We have been adapting throughout the season, as we are without certain players. We lost Oladipo at the beginning of the season and later for the whole year. Our coaches are doing a very good job of keeping the players ready for games and have managed to get wins. But we are still trying to figure out who we are,” said coach Nate McMillan after the game. 

The game was tied 107:107 with just under four minutes to go - and then Bogdanović created the momentum by hitting a three-pointer. Later, the Pacers ended the game with a series of 15-8, and Bogdanović scored 11 points in the last four minutes.

"It shows how physically strong we are and how mentally strong we are. We were without Domantas, but we did a great job at the beginning of the second quarter. Again, excellent performance and excellent team defense,” Bogdanović said

TJ Leaf scored a career-record of 18 points. Indiana recovered from 12-points behind early on and went into half-time with a score of 64:60. Thanks to Bogdanović, the Pacers secured the victory, and Bojan has thus extended his streak of 20-point-plus performances to three straight games. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.