Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic is getting off his feet earlier than anyone expected. Team Serbia was knocked out of EuroBasket 2025 by Finland, 92-86, in the Round of 16 on Saturday. It’s such a stunner that it prompted FIBA’s website to write about the biggest upsets in the history of EuroBasket — calling this shocker the “upset of the century.”
Serbia, the second-rated team in the world by FIBA right now, lost twice in a row to end its run in the competition. First, they lost to Turkey earlier this week in their final group play game to miss out on winning Group A. Then they were downed in the first game of the knockout portion of play by the 20th-ranked team in the world.
Things went awry for Serbia a little earlier in the competition when
Serbia faced a significant injury with Los Angeles Clippers sparkplug Bogdan Bogdanovic getting injured and being ruled out for the rest of the tournament with a torn hamstring. Since Bogi went down, Serbia had not played at the same level.
That was apparent on Saturday with Finland matching their level immediately. They got off to an 11-1 run powered by a huge Lauri Markkanen putback dunk through contact. The Utah Jazz star had 29 points and seven rebounds, Mikael Jantunen added 15 points and a stat-stuffing Miro Little added 13 points, eight rebounds, six assists and three steals. The big moment came late with Serbia still within fighting distance, but Elias Valtonen stepped up in the final two minutes with eight of his 13 points to carry Finland to the win.
Jokic scored a game-high 33 points on just 13 shots, connecting on 14 of his 19 free throws. The big man added a game-best eight rebounds, too, but that wasn’t enough. Finland went plus-10 on the glass, with a wild 20 offensive rebounds. Jokic’s best partner was Nikola Jovic, who was the only Serbian to get into double figures with 20 points. But he was one of the few to shoot well from deep as his team connected on just 31% of those jumpers.
“They played a great game. From the start, we didn’t come ready. I just wasn’t ready from the jump,” the Miami Heat’s Jovic told FIBA.com. “Their 20 offensive rebounds were just unacceptable. We knew what they were doing, we prepared well, we watched film, still, they managed to be just better and more physical than us.”
Serbia won the bronze in Paris last summer and were silver at FIBA’s World Cup back in 2023 without Jokic. But this isn’t the first time they’ve gone home early from a tournament recently. Serbia lost to Italy in the Round of 16 back in 2022.
Jokic flashed brilliant plays during this tournament and in the lead-up to it, but did not look to be at his best. There were even small signs, like his arm sleeve, that he may have been battling some small pains.
Jokic will now get a few weeks off ahead of training camp, which should tip off later this month for the Nuggets. Their first preseason game is a little less than a month from now on Oct. 4.
