{"id":6401,"date":"2025-05-02T11:32:12","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T11:32:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/6401\/"},"modified":"2025-05-02T11:32:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T11:32:12","slug":"as-serbias-two-best-players-clash-in-nba-playoffs-bogdan-bogdanovic-recalls-first-time-facing-nikola-jokic-boulder-daily-camera","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/6401\/","title":{"rendered":"As Serbia\u2019s two best players clash in NBA playoffs, Bogdan Bogdanovic recalls first time facing Nikola Jokic \u2013 Boulder Daily Camera"},"content":{"rendered":"

Serbia\u2019s second-best basketball player had a red carpet to the rim, an opportunity to steal a series-altering rebound from Serbia\u2019s best basketball player<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But to succeed in his heist, Bogdan Bogdanovic sensed he would need to take a different path to the ball. Around the red carpet.<\/p>\n

He knew Nikola Jokic<\/a> too well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always trying to win against him,\u201d the Clippers guard told The Denver Post. \u201cThat\u2019s what you have to write.\u201d<\/p>\n

The play in question was a pivotal moment in Denver\u2019s first-round series that ended up mercifully overshadowed by Aaron Gordon\u2019s buzzer-beating dunk<\/a> 75 seconds later. It was also a spotlight on one subplot of the series \u2014 two countrymen and friends<\/a> facing off in the NBA Playoffs for the first time.<\/p>\n

With 1:15 to play in Game 4 and Los Angeles trailing by one, Kawhi Leonard launched a 3-pointer from the right wing. Bogdanovic was stationed on the opposite side, unguarded because Michael Porter Jr. was helping off of him to put another weak-side body on Clippers center Ivica Zubac. When the shot went up, Zubac boxed out Porter on the left block. Jokic was alone in the middle of the paint. He had first dibs on the rebound.<\/p>\n

But the space to Jokic\u2019s left, between him and Zubac, was inviting Bogdanovic to occupy it. He had a free lane to crash the glass, a straight-line sprint to lodge himself on the inside of Jokic\u2019s hip.<\/p>\n

Instead, Bogdanovic tried to think like Jokic \u2014 to anticipate the opponent\u2019s next move. It\u2019s easier when the opponent is often a teammate.<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, I\u2019ve learned from him that his place (on the floor), where he\u2019s moving, he knows how to space himself for a good rebound,\u201d Bogdanovic explained. \u201cSo that play, I knew I had an open middle. But I went on his right-hand (side), because I saw Zu on the left side.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m thinking a thousand thoughts in a second, but that was that thought. I was like, \u2018Uh, let\u2019s go left, right, left, right \u2014 right!\u201d<\/p>\n

Bogdanovic nailed it. Jokic shuffled to his left to leverage the open space on his right, and Bogdanovic took the long way around the outside of the rotund 7-footer, surprising him and seizing the rebound. With a reverse put-back layup, the 6-5 guard gave Los Angeles a 97-96 lead, completing an unthinkable 32-9 run.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe lost the game,\u201d Bogdanovic said, \u201cso I couldn\u2019t (trash)-talk.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jokic and Bogdanovic were the glue that held the Serbian national team together last summer during a bronze-medal run at the Paris Olympics.\u00a0Bogdanovic was the captain, Jokic the indispensable hub of offense. They both averaged more than 18 points per game. They stayed up until 6 a.m. together after their heartbreaking semifinal loss to Team USA<\/a>, hanging out in the treatment room of their team hotel with a handful of other players.<\/p>\n

\u201cTalking a little about the game, and then talking about life,\u201d Bogdanovic told The Post last fall. \u201cOrder a couple of beers. Maybe a bottle of wine. And talk. \u2026 Being there with friends, it helps you go through these moments. That\u2019s what we believe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Needless to say, this is different. Jokic and Bogdanovic have spent most of their NBA careers in opposite conferences, playing against each other only twice per season in a lower-stakes environment since 2020. Annual trips to Atlanta for the Nuggets were opportunities to catch up with a friend the night before a game for Jokic.<\/p>\n

Playoff basketball is more tense, more ruthlessly competitive. The Hawks traded Bogdanovic to Los Angeles in February, making this first-round alignment of the Serbian stars possible.\u00a0\u201cWe talk during the season,\u201d Bogdanovic said. \u201cWe are trying to be pros now.\u201d<\/p>\n

He shot 42.7% from 3-point range in 30 games with the Clippers to finish the regular season, averaging 11.4 points, three rebounds and three assists off the bench. After a slow start to this series, he was a plus-22 in Game 4 and an 18-point scorer in Game 5.<\/p>\n

As for Jokic, it\u2019s been a pass-first kind of series, due to the crowds Los Angeles has shown him.<\/p>\n

But he has always preferred it that way. Bogdanovic knows better than anyone. The first time they ever played against each other in 2013, Bogdanovic was an emerging star for the Belgrade-based EuroLeague team Partizan, and Jokic was playing for Mega Basket, a smaller developmental club in Serbia. \u201cHe was supposed to come to Partizan to play with us,\u201d Bogdanovic recalled, \u201cbut he stayed on Mega because he had a bigger role.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even so, Jokic wasn\u2019t a known entity as an NBA prospect yet, so opponents like Bogdanovic had no reason to double-team him from the perimeter.<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t matter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe played in preparation games twice, and we played in-season twice. I didn\u2019t like him,\u201d Bogdanovic told The Post this week, laughing. \u201cBecause he was goofy, and he wasn\u2019t hitting shots. He was just passing. \u2026 He could have scored one-on-one and everything. He was toying with (the game). That\u2019s a good word. He was like toying, joking with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Want more Nuggets news? Sign up for the Nuggets Insider to get all our NBA analysis.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Serbia\u2019s second-best basketball player had a red carpet to the rim, an opportunity to steal a series-altering rebound…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7,765,301,187,766,6,11,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-6401","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba-playoffs","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-colorado","10":"tag-denver","11":"tag-denver-nuggets","12":"tag-front-range","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-nba-playoffs","15":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114438022412325745","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}