PARIS, France — Nikola Jokic had 21 points and 14 rebounds, and Serbia surged back to beat Australia 95-90 in overtime Tuesday to reach the Olympic basketball semifinals.
Bogdan Bogdanovic added 17 for points for Serbia, which rallied from a 24-point first-half deficit to set up a meeting with either the U.S. or Brazil.
Serbia is aiming for its first Olympic medal since the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, where it took home silver. That was the first Olympics for a then 21-year-old Jokic.
Patty Mills had 26 points —- but just six after halftime —- for Australia, which won the Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo three years ago.
Jokic put Serbia on top, 91-90, with just over a minute left in overtime. Australia's Jack McVeigh then misfired on its next possession. Serbia got the ball back to Jokic, who converted again.
Australia attempted to get the ball into Mills on the inbounds, but it was knocked away and stolen by Serbia.
Serbia's stormed back in the third quarter and retook the lead late, 61-60, on a jumper by Bogdanovic. The basket capped a 40-14 scoring run.
Serbia led 67-65 entering the fourth and was up 81-78 when Josh Giddey hit a short jumper to cut the margin to a point with just over a minute to play in regulation.
Australia rebounded a Bogdanovic miss, but Mills misfired on the other end. Australia forced a Vasilije Micic error, but he was found on the rebound with 9.8 seconds left. He then connected on 1 of 2 free throws,
Australia got the ball into Mills, who lost his dribble, gathered and hit a fallaway jumper to send the game to an extra frame.
At 35 and playing in his fifth Olympics, Mills is one of the most decorated players in Australian basketball history and had developed a penchant for big games in international play.
He’d been mostly quiet in France, averaging just over 13 points per game, while shooting 35% from the field.
He found his shot Tuesday, scoring 20 points in the first half on 8-of-11 shooting as Australia raced to a big early lead.
Germany 76, Greece 63
Franz Wagner scored 18 points and Germany overcame a sluggish start to beat Greece 76-63 and advance to the Olympics semifinals for the first time.
Dennis Schroder added 13 points and eight assists for the reigning World Cup champions, who will face the winner of France and Canada on Thursday. Germany’s previous best finish at the Olympics was seventh place in 1992.
Germany is unbeaten at the Paris Games after going 3-0 in the group stage.
Wagner said he and his teammates haven't had to look too deep for extra motivation during their time in France.
“I think everybody on the team knows that we’ve got a special group, and I want to get the most out of this,” Wagner said. “Obviously, last year was special but we’re trying to continue that and hopefully keep that momentum going forward.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 22 points for Greece, which was denied its first semifinals berth in Antetokounmpo’s first Olympics appearance.
Greece had 15 turnovers, leading to 20 points for Germany.
“There were a lot of details in this (game) they get you punished. They get you beat,” said Greece's Thomas Walkup, who added 12 points.
Wagner entered the quarterfinals averaging a team-high 22 points per game but struggled to get going.
Greece led by 12 at one point —- the first time Germany had trailed by 10 or more points in the tournament. But Germany settled in and used a big third quarter to take a seven-point lead into the fourth. Germany started the final period on a 13-5 run to increase its lead to 72-57 with 1:50 remaining.
Germany coach Gordon Hebert said going to a bigger lineup and switching more on defense was effective after halftime.
Wagner said carrying the same mentality throughout the tournament benefitted Germany after its initial slow start.
“I think it speaks to our maturity,” Wagner said. "We even talked about it at halftime — not everything’s going to go perfect all the time. So you kind of recover from that and adjust and react. I thought we did a good job of responding."