On August 8, Beijing time, the United States men's basketball team is two wins away from Olympic gold medals, and they will face Jokic's Serbia team in the semifinals. The name of the book Wenhorst raised the topic: "Is Serbia playing dead?" ”

Ten days ago, the United States men's basketball team defeated the Serbia men's basketball team 110-84 in the first group stage of the Olympic Games, winning by 26 points. In mid-July, the United States men's basketball team defeated the Serbia men's basketball team 105-79 in the warm-up game in Abu Dhabi, also winning by 26 points. Winning by 52 points in two games doesn't allow Kerr to let his guard down, and his fears are the same as that of Venhorst, Serbia men's basketball team may be setting off smoke bombs.

"We can't sleep because we beat them twice before," Cole said, "and we have to do everything we can to prepare for this opponent and we have to think about what different tactics they will use." Jokic, I guess he can play the full 40 minutes. What else do they have to offer? ”

At the Olympics, Jokic is undoubtedly the most feared player for the United States men's basketball team. They have seen Jokic win the Most Valuable Player award in the NBA three times and Jokic lead the Nuggets to a championship.

In the four games so far in the Olympics, Jokic has averaged 19.3 points, 11.8 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 2.5 steals and 1 block per game, leading all of them in Serbia. He shot 60 percent from the field. The stats show that Serbia won by 43 points when Jokic was on the floor, while Serbia lost by 12 points when he was not on the court.

It is worth mentioning that in the group stage loss to United States, in the 31 minutes that Jokic was present, Serbia and United States were tied, but in the 9 minutes he was not on the court, the United States men's basketball team led the Serbia men's basketball team 29-3.

In the quarterfinals, the Serbia men's basketball team completed a historic comeback from a desperate situation of 24 points, eliminating Australia through overtime. When Jokic was on the floor, Serbia won by 17 points, and when he wasn't on the floor, Serbia lost by 12 points.

Those numbers are the reason why Kerr speculated that Jokic could play the full 40 minutes in the semifinals. Even if he rests, he may only take a short break because Serbia need their best players to be on the field to improve their chances of qualifying.

Embiid is likely to start against Jokic. "I think we're going to be ready for that, and if they think they have to do it to beat us, then they'll not hesitate to do it," he said. ”

Serbia coach Pesic, 74, is one of the most experienced coaches in Europe, and his system means Jokic has fewer balls in his hands than he did with the Nuggets. But in crunch time, Jokic is undoubtedly the one who controls the ball. He completed three crucial defensive games – a steal, a block, and swatting the ball off the basket to prevent a goal – plus two decisive shots to help the team beat Australia.

In both games against the United States, Pesic made an unusual rotation of Jokic. In Abu Dhabi, Jokic played the first three quarters, which was not normal for a warm-up game. In the group stage of the Olympics, Pesic still did not replace Jokic after the United States team played a high game.

Since losing to United States in the group stage, Serbia have won three in a row. "Every game is an individual test. Whatever happened in the first two games [two wins over Serbia], now we are only focused on the semi-finals," James said, "so we need to focus on our video lessons, focus on preparing for Thursday [local time] and then get ready to play."

The key matchup between the United States and Serbia will be played at 3 a.m. Beijing time on August 9. United States team successfully advanced to the final? Let's wait and see.