France vs. Serbia: FIBA World Cup 2014 Semifinal Score and Twitter Reaction
Nicolas Batum did everything in his power to lead France to the FIBA World Cup final. In the end, though, Serbia was just too tough to overcome.
Despite Batum's 35 points and France's furious rally in the second half, the Serbians held on to secure a 90-85 win and advance to the final against the United States. Batum was a force of nature on offense and on fire from beyond the arc, draining eight of the 12 threes he attempted.
Sportando broke down Batum's performance:
Serbia may have won the game, but Batum was the man to watch. David Aldridge of Turner Sports certainly thought so:
He was also quick to congratulate the Serbian team after the win:
For Batum, it wasn't enough. But man, was it fun to watch.
Still, the Serbians had their share of heroes. Milos Teodosic had 24 points, with six other Serbian players finishing in double digits. The Serbians also played one heck of a team game, tallying 19 assists.
Teodosic in particular is one to watch, per John Schuhmann of NBA.com:
After Teodosic's performance, Marc Stein of ESPN said what everyone else was thinking:
Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns congratulated their draft pick, Bogdan Bogdanovic, who finished with 13 points and four assists:
Serbia's road to get to the final certainly hasn't been easy or without its speed bumps, per Chris Sheridan of Sheridan Hoops:
And despite the very obvious talent on the Serbian roster, they'll be pretty big underdogs in the final against a United States team absolutely loaded with NBA talent. Even without LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant and a host of other superstars, Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving and James Harden have led an All-Star cast into the final.
France, meanwhile, will face Lithuania in the bronze-medal game. The country is going to need a few more players other than just Batum to step it up in that contest. Boris Diaw (13 points, 10 rebounds), Thomas Heurtel (12 points, six assists) and Evan Fournier (10 points) played well, but it just wasn't enough for the French.
If they want a medal, they'll have to get their stars going a bit earlier than they did against Serbia.
