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.

Croatia’s NBA players will be joined by yet another colleague next season. Namely, 19-year-old Luka Šamanić was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs to be the seventh Croat in the NBA this season. And better yet, the 210-centimeter power forward was the great wish of legendary coach Gregg Popovich.

Gol.hr reports on July 31, 2019, that the promising basketballer went to Barcelona three years ago and spent the last season at Olimpija in Slovenia. But after a brief experience in European basketball, Luka is on his way to the pot of gold - the NBA and the San Antonio Spurs.

"I had just that one season at Olimpija. I played a lot of minutes because we had three competitions after that season - there were both good and bad times. I spoke with my family and I think I'm ready, mentally ready to go there (NBA), to work and try to fight out there,” Luka Šamanić told Nova TV.

The young Croatia national team player was the great desire of legendary coach Gregg Popovich - and just how badly Popovich wanted him is proven by the fact that he was elected as the 19th pick. 

"Before the draft, I spoke to an agent who told me between 16 and 35. They told me you could be 16, and you could be 35, that the draft is always unpredictable, and you never know what's going to happen. I was ready for anything, and I secretly wanted San Antonio because they have some history with Europe and when I heard that I was 19, I was overjoyed,” explained the Croatian basketball player.

Tim Duncan is an assistant to Popovich this season, and Luka has already met the legend of the NBA league and American basketball.

"I was at the pre-draft workout, before the draft, and we went to dinner. I didn't even know that he was going to be there. I thought there would only be people from San Antonio. When I saw him and saw Gregg, that is something that does not happen every day. And we didn't talk at all about basketball, it was all about how I was doing in school, how many languages I speak, things to fit into their San Antonio family,” said Šamanić.

In the tests leading up to the draft, Luka was brilliant. As a European, he was a complete stranger to the media who are used to tracking future NBA stars through college.

"And then when you jump a meter high, all of a sudden everybody wonders what, how, who. It was all a joke before, but I knew it and just waited to go there and show them, and it paid off," said the promising player.

Šamanić has chosen the number 19, which is full of symbolism, and the expectations from his debut season are looking to be realistic.

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

Luka Šamanić left a positive impression in the San Antonio Spurs jersey at the start of the NBA Summer League. The young Croatian basketball player scored 11 points and seven rebounds to win against the Cleveland Cavaliers 97:89, reports Gol.hr on July 2, 2019.

In his first match after the draft, Luka Šamanić showed skills that confirmed why the San Antonio Spurs had chosen him as the 19th pick.

"I was nervous," said Croatian basketball player, who originally hails from Zagreb.

“It was my first NBA match. I was excited but nervous... it just took some time,” he added.

After his nerves calmed, the 19-year-old player showed his promising potential. He managed 4/7 shots in play, including a key three-pointer and dunk in the last two minutes.

"At first everything went very fast and I was trying to focus on where I was going, who is my shooter, who isn’t, and help defend. Then in the second half, it was a lot better,”  said Šamanić for the US media.

Šamanić was also praised by Blake Ahearn, the coach of San Antonio in the Summer League.

“The man can jump - it surprised me. I like that he is aggressive,” said Ahearn.

The most effective for the Spurs was Lonnie Walker, last year’s draft pick, who scored 20 points and achieved 8/12 shots in play. 

Walker even praised Luka: "Luka has shown that every time he goes to the hoop he wants to dunk, and that's great."

Šamanić’s jumping skills didn’t just surprise Ahearn and Walker: "I think a lot of people don’t expect that of me,” added the young Croatian player.

"At this level, you have to be top-rated, and all three of our novices managed in their own way. If you want to survive in this league, you have to do that," Ahearn added.

Recall, Šamanić was selected by the Spurs in this year's draft as the 19th pick, and immediately joined the team in the Summer League. In Las Vegas, the Croatian national team will play in their first match on Friday against the Detroit Piston.

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