May 8, 2021 - It was the best game ever for Bojan Bogdanović, who scored 48 points against Denver on Friday night!

Jutarnji List reports that Bojan Bogdanović played the best game of his career last night. In Utah's victory against Denver (127:120), the Croatian basketball player scored 48 points (career record), and with a phenomenal 70% shooting percentage, he scored 16 out of 23 attempts. Bojan also hit 8 of 11 three-pointers and all eight free throws.

In addition, he had 8 rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Bogdanović's performance carries additional weight because, thanks to him, Utah has remained the leading team in the West and is now in a great spot for the playoffs.

?| ?????? ????, ??????!

48 points, 8 threes, 8 rebounds, 8/8 ft, 2 assists, 2 steals | #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/82bCKckGke

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) May 8, 2021

Bojan overshadowed Nikola Jokić, convincingly the first candidate for MVP of the player of the season. The Serbian center also had a great evening, scoring 24 points, to which he added 13 assists and 9 rebounds. But all that was not enough to surpass Bogdanović.

Bojan has been playing the best basketball of his career in recent weeks. He has scored at least 22 points in his last five games, with a shooting percentage above 54 percent. The average in those five games is a fantastic 30.6 points, and he hit 54 of 86 attempts, which is a phenomenal 63 percent.

Utah has been playing without its best player Donovan Mitchell for some time, and Bojan's role in the team has changed with his position. The more he is with the ball, the more he gets under the basket, which obviously suits him better than the role of a classic shooter.

In the victory against Denver, Bogdanović had the best teammates in Clarkson (21 points), Gobert (14), and Niang (13).

Phoenix was also successful, beating New York 128:105. The Suns were led by Ayton with 26 points and 15 rebounds, while Dario Saric had another miserable evening. He only played five minutes in which he only managed to shoot once. 

The Lakers stumbled once again, this time in Portland (106:101), with whom they now share sixth place in the West. Seventh leads to the play-in, and the Lakers look awful.

Results:Philadelphia - New Orleans 109: 107, Chicago - Boston 121: 99, Charlotte - Orlando 122: 112, Miami - Minnesota 121: 112, Milwaukee - Houston 141: 133, Dallas - Cleveland 110: 90, Portland - LA Lakers 106: 101, Sacramento - San Antonio 104: 113, Utah - Denver 127: 120, Phoenix - New York 128: 105.

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE. 

April 13, 2021 - Not only did he score 33 points for Utah on Monday, but Bojan Bogdanović became the first Croatian NBA player to hit 1000 career 3-pointers!

Although Croatia national team player Bojan Bogdanović achieved his best performance this season with 33 points, his Utah Jazz, which boasts the best ratio of victories and defeats in the NBA league, surprisingly lost at home to the Washington Wizards (121-125), thus breaking a series of 24 consecutive home wins. 

The Jazz was 13 points behind in the middle of the last quarter, only to get closer to -2 (119-121) at the last minute, but they failed to complete the comeback.

The most efficient at home was Donovan Mitchell with 42 points, while the Wizards were led by Bradley Beal with 34 points and Russell Westbrook with 25 goals and 14 rebounds and assists.

????? getting his ??????? #TakeNote pic.twitter.com/ZcjdLu1gwB

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) April 13, 2021

With this defeat, Utah's ratio dropped to 40-14, while Washington is in 12th place in the East (20-33).

Bogdanović spent 35:36 minutes on the court with 4-9 field goals, 6-9 three-pointers, and 7-8 from the free-throw line with five rebounds and one assist. However, by scoring six three-pointers, he exceeded 1000 in his NBA career and has recorded 1002 in total!

Bogdanović became the first Croat and only the 127th player with that jubilee in NBA history since the introduction of threes 42 years ago. Babo has been a Croatian record holder for a long time since he skipped Toni Kukoč, who ended his NBA career with 731 three-pointers.

@44Bojan last night:
33 PTS
6-10 3PT
??He became first Croatian player in @NBA history to hit 1000 career three pointers (1002 total). Only 126 players before him reached that number. Just a kid from Mostar, standing shoulder to shoulder with one of the best NBA shooters! ? pic.twitter.com/ChVrlRaNSL

— Andrija Cmrečnjak (@ZiziPecina) April 13, 2021

Bogdanović reached this jubilee in the 516th NBA game. By comparison, Sacramento defender Buddy Hield recently scored his 1000th three-pointer in his 350th appearance, breaking Stephen Curry's record of 369 appearances.

Bojan currently needs 80 points to enter the top 100 three-pointers of all time. Tracy McGrady is currently in the 100th position. There are ten more active players between McGrady and Bogdanović, meaning he will probably need to exceed 1100 three-pointers to break into the Top 100.

At the pace of 2.4 three-pointers per game, which is how many he is averaging this season, he would need about forty more appearances to reach that venture before the end of the year, depending on the start date of next season.

At the very top is still Ray Allen with 2973 threes, but he is dangerously close to Stephen Curry, who scored ten in last night's historic game and is now at 2719 in his career.

The Utah defeat was used by the Phoenix Suns, who, with a sure 126-120 victory against the weak Houston Rockets this season, are only one and a half games behind. Croatia national team player Dario Šarić added nine points to his team's new victory (1-5 field goals, 2-3 three-pointers,1-2 free throws) with five rebounds and one steal 17:51 minutes spent on the court. 

The best in Phoenix's ranks was Jae Crowder with 26 and Devin Booker with 24 points, while Christian Wood was the best for Houston with 25 points and 15 rebounds.

Luka Šamanić also got a chance in the San Antonio Spurs away victory to Orlando Magic (120-97), scoring seven points in 7:45 minutes spent in the game (2-3 field goals, 1-1 three-pointers, 0- 1free throws). DeMar DeRozan led the Spurs with 19 points, while R.J. Hampton with 16 points was the most efficient for the Magic.

With this victory, San Antonio reached a 50/50 performance with a 26-26 ratio and is ninth in the West, while Orlando, with 17-37, is the penultimate 14th in the East.

The New York Knicks as hosts defeated the Los Angeles Lakers (111-96), who are still without LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Former Lakers player Julius Randle scored 34 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, while Dennis Schroeder was the most efficient for the Lakers with 21 points. 

The Knicks are now eighth in the East with a 28-27 ratio, while the Lakers are fifth in the West with a 33-21 ratio.

The Philadelphia 76ers returned to the top of the East with an away win against the Dallas Mavericks (113-95). Joel Embiid was excellent for the Sixers with 36 points, while Luka Dončić's 32 points were not enough for the Mavs.

Philadelphia is now 37-17, one win less and one game less than the Brooklyn Nets in second, who have postponed their Minnesota match against the Timberwolves due to the riots in Minneapolis, while Dallas is seventh in the West with 29-24.

Stephen Curry had a great evening, scoring 53 points in the 116-107 Golden State Warriors victory against the Denver Nuggets and became the best Warriors scorer in history, overtaking Wilt Chamberlain. Nikola Jokić's 27 points did not help the Nuggets. 

Golden State is now 26-28 and holds 10th place in the West, while Denver is 4th in the West with 34-20.

Source: HRT

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE. 

March 2, 2021 - The brilliant Bojan Bogdanović hits 7 threes for the third time this season. The Croatian basketball player has never had more than two games with 7 or more made threes until this year.

Index.hr reports that Utah Jazz lost to the New Orleans Pelicans 124:129 in last night's game despite one of the best performances of this season by Croatia star Bojan Bogdanović, who finished the match with 31 points.

Utah was one step away from creating a big turnaround, coming back from a 17-point deficit to only -1, but ultimately recorded their eighth defeat of the season. Utah is still the leading team in the NBA, with a ratio of 27 wins and eight losses.

In the last ten games, Bogdanović recorded a 32 percent accuracy for three-pointers, but he opened this game with five three-pointers, and by the end, he had scored a total of seven.

Bojan: 31p | 7 3pm | 7r | 3s | 1a
Rudy: 22p | 9r | 5b | 1a | 1s
Don: 21p | 8a | 4r
JC: 20p | 5r | 4a | 3 3pm | 1s
Mike: 10p | 8a | 3r | 2s | 2 3pm
Royce: 8p | 3r | 2a | 2s | 2 3pm
Georges: 8p | 2 3pm | 1r
Fav: 5r | 4p | 1s | 1b
Joe: 2a | 2r | 1a #podiumpostgame | @podiumhq pic.twitter.com/Ju75dpLG7g

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) March 2, 2021

For the third time this season, he scored seven three-pointers, a record achievement for the Croatian. Never before in the same season had he had more than two games with so many three-pointers. Bogdanović had 11 three-pointer attempts, as many as the entire Pelicans team who recorded as many made threes as he did.

In the third game of this season in which he scored 30 or more points, Bogdanović was 11/21 for field goals. His season record is still 32 points, which he achieved against the Dallas Mavericks in late January.

Zion Williamson was the best for the Pelicans with 26 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists, Brandon Ingram had 26 points and five assists, and Lonzo Ball had 23 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists.

Young Croatian basketballer Luka Šamanić played his best game of the season. In the San Antonio Spurs' loss to the Brooklyn Nets, James Harden reached a triple-double with 30 points, 14 rebounds, and 15 assists. Šamanić played nearly 17 minutes. He used them for eight points and five rebounds. The victory went to the Nets with a score of 124:113.

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

February 20, 2021 - Bojan Bogdanović scores 23 points in the loss to Ivica Zubac's Los Angeles Clippers and more news about Croats in the NBA. 

T.portal reports that Los Angeles Clippers retaliated against the Utah Jazz after losing two days ago, defeating them at home on Friday 116:112, thus breaking a series of nine consecutive victories for the currently leading team in the NBA. It was only the second defeat for Utah in the last 22 games.

The Clippers took the lead with a three-pointer by Beverley for 107: 94 two and a half minutes before the end, and it seemed that the game was over, but Jazz responded with a 13:3 series and reduced it to just 110:107 18 seconds before the time expired. Utah was precise from the free-throw line at the end of the game, but the great Mitchell failed to nail a three-pointer.

Kawhi Leonard led the home team to victory with 29 points, Lou Williams added 19 from the bench, while Donovan Mitchell scored 35 points for the guests, where Croatian Bojan Bogdanović scored 23 points in 33:32 minutes spent on the court (4/6 field goals, 4/5 three-pointers, 3/4 free throws) with two rebounds and assists.

Croatian center Ivica Zubac played a good role for the Clippers, especially when rebounding, and scored three baskets in 17:00 minutes spent in the game (0/2 field goals, 3/4 free throws) with eight rebounds, two assists, and one steal. 

Despite the defeat, Utah still leads in the Western Conference and the entire league with a 24-6 win-loss ratio, while the Clippers are third in the West and the entire league with 22-9, one loss behind the second-placed Los Angeles Lakers.

The Phoenix Suns won 132:114 away to the New Orleans Pelicans with a great game in the fourth quarter, and Croatian Dario Šarić played a modest game, scoring five points in 10:27 minutes spent on the court (1/2 field goals, 1/3 three-pointers) with three rebounds.

Šarić did not play in the last quarter in which the Suns turned the 91:102 deficit into a 130:109 advantage ahead of the last minute with a phenomenal 39:7 series.

Chris Paul was key for the Suns, who led his team both offensively with shots and assists and defensively with steals. Along with Paul, Jae Crowder and DeAndre Ayton were brilliant in those last 12 minutes.

Paul finished with 15 points and as many as 19 assists, Crowder scored 20 points, and Ayton recorded 16 points and rebounds. The most efficient among the winners was Devin Booker with 23 points.

Brandon Ingram scored 25 points for the Pelicans, Zion Williamson added 23, and Lonzo Ball added 21.

The Suns are now 18-10 and the Pelicans 12-17.

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

February 6, 2021 - It was a great night for Croats in the NBA, as the brilliant Bogdanovic scores 31 points, and Ivica Zubac sets a new season record. 

Bojan Bogdanovic played perhaps the most complete game of his career, leading the Utah Jazz to a new victory and helped the club set a new three-point record, reports Index.hr.

Utah defeated Charlotte 138:121 away, scoring 26 three-pointers, the most in its history. Bogdanovic excelled with 31 points, seven rebounds, and five assists; he was 10/15 for field goals, 7/10 for three-pointers, and 4/4 from the free-throw line.

?| @44bojan ⤵️

31p | 7 3pm | 7r | 5a | 10-15 fg pic.twitter.com/XIFZNYj28h

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) February 6, 2021

He was especially hot in the third quarter when he scored four three-pointers just a minute and a half apart!

This is his second game of the season in which he has surpassed 30 points, equaled his best rebound and three-point performance of the season, and has only had more assists once.

After a poor shooting start to the season, which could be attributed to joint surgery, a long pause, and needing to find his rhythm, Bogdanovic has averaged 26.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in the last five games, with a field goal percentage of 60% and a three-point percentage of 58.5%. 

Utah has racked up three wins since losing in Denver, meaning they have won 14 of their last 15 games and still have the best ratio in the NBA league.

Index.hr also reports that Ivica Zubac hit all seven field goals and achieved a season-record 14 points, but his LA Clippers lost at home to Boston 119:115.

?ZUUUUUU pic.twitter.com/C2yT5oTmWU

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) February 6, 2021

The Clippers were without Paul George and Patrick Beverley, and the Celtics without Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart. Boston was led by Jayson Tatum with 34 points and the Clippers by Kawhi Leonard with 28 points.

Big man with a big jam.@ivicazubac | #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/D3TIruTOGL

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) February 6, 2021

Zubac spent a little over 20 minutes on the court, scoring 14 points, six rebounds, and one block, all with a perfect 7/7 for field goals. Offensively, he dominated against the smaller and physically weaker center lineup of Boston.

? ZUBLOCKA@ivicazubac | #ClipperNation pic.twitter.com/s6DwgsCH55

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) February 6, 2021

“His presence was huge,” coach Ty Lue said after the game. 

Zubac's best performance so far this season was 13 points against Atlanta and recorded the most in his career when he scored 26 points in January 2019, still in the LA Lakers jersey, a few weeks before the Clippers trade.

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

January 30, 2021 - Croatian basketball player Bojan Bogdanovic scores season-high 32 points in the Utah Jazz's 120-101 victory against the Dallas Mavericks, which was Utah's 11th consecutive victory.

Utah continued a great series against Dallas, and Croatian basketball player Bojan Bogdanovic was brilliant, scoring 32 points in 32 minutes, which is his highest this season.

As many as 17 were scored in the third quarter which the hosts won 33-23. Bogdanovic scored 10/16 from shots in play, 7/11 from three-pointers, while he was 5/5 from the free-throw line. He also recorded two assists.

? | @44bojan ⤵️

32p | 7 3pm | 2a | 5-5 ft pic.twitter.com/NEOJP1o9jV

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) January 30, 2021

"The coaches told me that they want me to shoot more, to be aggressive," said the Croatian basketball player.

"I try to be my own and I try to be aggressive regardless of the shot percentage," Bogdanovic added.

"We are much better off when he is so aggressive," said Mike Conley who scored 22 points and nine assists.

Along with Bogdanovic and Conley, the best in the ranks of Utah were Jordan Clarkson with 18 points and six rebounds, and Rudy Gobert with 17 points and 12 rebounds, which is his eighth double-double in a row.

Slovenian Luka Doncic was the most efficient for the Mavericks with 25 points, six rebounds, and seven assists. Jalen Brunson added 13 points.

"Terrible, I'd say it looked like we didn’t care if we won. We just have to invest more energy and more effort," Doncic said after the match.

Utah leads the West 15-4, while Dallas has eight wins and 11 losses and holds 13th place in the same conference.

The LA Clippers also won, beating the Orlando Magic 116-90 on the road.

The Clippers were led by Paul George with 26 points, nine rebounds, and five assists, and Kawhi Leonard with 24 points.

"We were both great," George said when asked who was better.

"I was extremely relieved that we were both healthy, first of all. We played so well that it was unfortunate that we had to take a break, but safety comes first," he added.

The two stars had been quarantined according to the protocol since Monday. They were quarantined on Monday as the team headed from Los Angeles to Atlanta, and re-joined the team in Orlando after missing two games.

Ivica Zubac scored four points for the Clippers in 21 minutes, with 2/5 shots in play, and recorded seven rebounds and an assist. The most efficient for Orlanda was Terrence Ross with 24 points and Nikola Vucevic with 10 points and six rebounds.

The San Antonio Spurs beat the Denver Nuggets 119-109, and Luka Samanic did not play for the Spurs.

The Spurs were led by DeMar DeRozan with 30 points and 10 assists and Dejounte Murray with 26 points and seven rebounds, while the most efficient for Denver was Nikola Jokic with 35 points and 10 rebounds.

Source: HRT

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

January 24, 2021 - A great night for the Croatian basketballer, as Bojan Bogdanovic achieves career-8 assists against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night. 

Utah Jazz has been in phenomenal form lately. The convincing victory against the Golden State Warriors is now the eighth in a row, which is currently the longest streak in the NBA.

Donovan Mitchell was the best for Utah with 23 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, but he was again helped by the collective contribution of his teammates. Among them is the best Croatian basketball player Bojan Bogdanovic, who did not have such a great shooting night, but with 14 points, he added seven rebounds and eight assists, a career record for the Croatian. "Babo" plays the role of an executor, not a playmaker, and on average has recorded 1.7 assists per game in his career, making this is a great achievement for the Mostar native.

Bogey's got a career-high for assists—8 dimes with 6 minutes left in the third quarter!#TakeNote | @44bojan pic.twitter.com/oNW76KLk7N

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) January 24, 2021

Steph Curry was the best for Golden State, recording 24 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists, but also scored five three-pointers for a total of 2562 in his career, overtaking the legendary Reggie Miller in second place in the league's most three-pointers. In front of the Warriors star is now only Ray Allen with 2973 career three-pointers.

All three Brooklyn Nets stars came out on the floor again on Saturday. Durant, Irving, Harden managed to beat Miami, even with Bam Adebayo, who scored 41 points with five rebounds and nine assists for this career record. The Nets were led by Durant with 31 points, Irving with 28, and Harden with 12, but with 11 assists, he was the team’s best assistant.

The Denver Nuggets beat the Phoenix Suns for the second time in two nights, and both games went into overtime. After the Nuggets managed to win in the first game after one overtime, they needed two in this one, and Nikola Jokic led them to victory with 29 points and 22 rebounds, which is his career record, and six assists.

Dario Saric was once again not on the list of active players because he is in self-isolation.

Source: Novi List

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

February 11, 2020 - Croatian basketball player and Utah Jazz star Bojan Bogdanovic features on the official FIBA website this week. 

In an interview with FIBA on Monday, February 10, Croatia captain and basketball star Bojan Bogdanovic said that he wanted to repeat the summer of 2016 when Croatia qualified for the Olympic Games.

Then it was played in Turin, and this time, the qualifying tournament is held in Split. Croatia is the host and only the winner of the tournament goes to Tokyo.

"We have to play every game as if it was a final, as if our lives depended on it." - ?️ @44Bojan#FIBAOQT | @CbfHks ??https://t.co/921Cxwyari

— FIBA (@FIBA) February 10, 2020

"We were in warrior mode in 2016. We want to achieve the same thing this summer, too. The mentality has to be - win, win, win and not to overthink. We all know that every team that is coming to the (FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament) is going to battle for a spot in the Olympics, because every player dreams about competing on the Olympic stage. I mean, basketball in the Olympics is one of the most followed competition, and every player has memories from the Dream Team, Team USA, their own national team or the Olympic Games in general,” Bogdanovic said, and added:

“When I heard we were going to play in Split, I was so happy! It's a huge basketball city and it's one of my favorite places in the whole country. Playing at home has to be a plus for us, we have to take advantage of this and show our country that we can win at home. The fans are already talking a lot about it, according to the feedback and information I got from my family and friends back in Croatia. We talk about it, too, between the players. Playing at home is a privilege, and we want to make the most out of it. It's going to be great, and don't want to  and can't disappoint them. We count on them to be our sixth man.”

Croatia lost to Serbia in the quarterfinal at the Rio Olympics, where Bogdanovic scored 25.3 points per game.

“Oh man, I have so many good memories from the Rio Olympics! The atmosphere was unique, the people and the crowd were very good and noisy and the overall Olympic experience was very good,” Bogdanovic concluded.

Recall, the Olympic Qualifying Tournament will be held in Split from June 23 to 28, 2020. Croatia will face Tunisia and Brazil.

You can read the full interview on the official FIBA website.

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

February 10, 2020 - For the second time this season, Bojan Bogdanovic scored a three-pointer at the final buzzer to give Utah Jazz the win.

"This shot was better than the one against Milwaukee," Bojan Bogdanovic said after the game, which Utah Jazz won 114:113 against Houston Rockets.

Gol.hr reports that after P. J. Tucker hit a three-pointer to give Houston a 113:111 lead with 1.6 seconds remaining, and it looked like Utah would be without the win at the Toyota Center.

Bojan Bogdanovic wasn’t having the best evening. For the first time since arriving in Salt Lake City, he failed to score any baskets in the first half, and by the end of the game he was on the bench, with just five points and one shot in play (1/6).

?| @lockedonsports with the call on the game-winner ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/jtZ5TdCv6i

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 10, 2020

Still, coach Quin Snyder decided to use him in the last action of the game.

"I didn't even have to be on the court considering how I played. But the coaches believed in me; they gave me a chance to shoot for the win. I believed I could hit that shot and in the end, we came to that momentous victory," Bogdanovic said overjoyed after the game in which he scored just eight points and recorded single-digits for the second time this season.

Bogdanovic was on the run at the start of the action, then headed for the basket. Then, through the blocks of Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, he was nine meters from the basket, received the ball from Joe Ingles, who threw it into play, and nailed a three-pointer over PJ Tucker and James Harden's outstretched arm.

"This one was better than the one against Milwaukee," Bojan answered when asked where he would rank this winning basket.

Three months ago, Bogdanovic hit a three-pointer at the buzzer at home game against the Bucks, when he had 1.3 seconds to hit the winning shot. And even then, Coach Snyder trusted him.

"He's a great competitor and I always tell him just to play. I don't need to point this out; he knows how much I believe in him," the Utah Jazz coach said.

Compliments also came from home team coach Mike D'Antoni.

"There were two players on it. I was afraid we wouldn't make a foul because they were very close. I tip my hat to him for that shot.”

On the way to the Jazz victory, Jordan Clarkson, who was the top scorer with 30 points, made a big contribution to the win. Donovan Mitchell recorded 24 points and Mike Conley scored 20 points. Rudy Gobert recorded a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds.

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

February 8, 2020 - Bojan Bogdanovic added to his already impressive stats this season with 27 points against the Portland Trail Blazers. 

HRT reports that the Utah Jazz was down by 16 points early in the second half, but achieved a massive turnaround and managed to break their five-game losing streak by defeating Portland 117:114.

Croatian basketball player Bojan Bogdanovic was the best for the Jazz with 27 points, scoring key points in the final moments. Namely, 52 seconds before the final buzzer, at 112:112, he scored for the Jazz lead, and a few seconds before the end, he hit one of two free throws for the final score. In addition to 27 points, he also recorded four rebounds, two steals and an assist.

?| Bojan with a team-high 27 points ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/JPPLkuTdbK

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 8, 2020

French center Rudy Gobert booked 16 points and 14 rebounds, and Mike Conley scored 18 points for the Jazz.

In almost 27 minutes on the court, Mario Hezonja scored 11 points with six rebounds and three steals for the Trail Blazers. Portland was led by Damian Lillard, who scored 42 points, six rebounds and six assists. However, he was anything but pleased after the game.

“The referees hijacked this win from us,” said Portland's best player, referring to the basket at the end of the game when Gobert blocked the ball for a Jazz lead of 116:114.

“That was a clean situation. Three refs are on the court and none of them saw it. They cost us victories. We are fighting for the playoffs and every win is important to us. We did our best to come up with a tough away win, and they stole it from us.

The whole match I was hit, sometimes I was guarded by three guys, they pulled me, pushed me and I only make three free throws in the game. And then they still make a mistake in a clean situation at the end of the game. Shouldn't we say something about it? Of course, we have to speak, because they cost us victories,” Lillard concluded.

Gobert also acknowledged the error of the judges.

“I did what I could to stop him. It can be seen in the video, he was honest.”

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