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Serbia lost to the U.S., but Milos Teodosic made the pass of the Olympics

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Serbia lost to the U.S., but Milos Teodosic made the pass of the Olympics

For years, Serbian point guard Milos Teodosic has had the reputation of being one of the best and most creative playmakers who wasn’t playing in the NBA. On Friday night, during Serbia’s marquee 2016 Summer Olympics matchup with the heavily favored United States, the 29-year-old passing wizard showed a rapt audience exactly how he earned that rep.

Teodosic delivered what looked like the best pass of the Olympic hoops tournament so far when he set up former Milwaukee Bucks center Miroslav Raduljica for a dunk in the second quarter with a slick sidearm whip of a bounce pass in the pick-and-roll. But the former FIBA Europe Player of the Year and Euroleague MVP, who this season helped lead Russian club CSKA Moscow to the Euroleague title, needed just two quarters to top himself, bringing a flair for the dramatic to Serbia’s attempt to knock off the U.S. with an unbelievable no-look pass out of a drive to the basket with just under 1:30 remaining in the fourth and Serbia trailing by five.

Teodosic shook U.S. swingman Paul George — a three-time NBA All-Defensive Team selection, by the way — with a behind-the-back dribble that sent the Indiana Pacers star into a stiff screen from Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, then blew past the help defense of Kevin Durant with a slick split of the pick-and-roll that sent him into the paint. His knifing drive drew the attention of two more U.S. help defenders, forwards Carmelo Anthony and Draymond Green, who collapsed and leapt to contest a layup … only to see Teodosic whip the ball back over his right shoulder, straight out to the 3-point line, where Green’s man, Phoenix Suns draftee and (possible) future Sacramento Kings guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, was standing all alone and wide open for a shot to cut the U.S. lead to two measly points.

Milos Teodosic is about to pass this basketball back over his right shoulder to the 3-point line and hit a shooter right in the hands. No, seriously. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
Milos Teodosic is about to pass this basketball back over his right shoulder to the 3-point line and hit a shooter right in the hands. No, seriously. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

The reaction to the pass among those following the action on Twitter was, as most social-media reactions are, reserved and demure:

Sadly, though, the best-laid plans of mice and Milos go oft awry … and so did Bogdanovic’s shot, leaving the U.S. lead at five and dashing the perfect highlight hopes of basketball lovers the world over.

Teodosic didn’t give up on the play, though, chasing down the offensive rebound of Bogdanovic’s miss, forcing a loose-ball foul on U.S. point guard Kyrie Irving, and knocking down a pair of free throws that cut the deficit to three, 94-91. That was as close as they’d get, though.

Jokic — the best player on the floor for most of the proceedings, finishing with a game-high 25 points on 11-for-15 shooting with six rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block in 30 minutes off the Serbian bench — missed a bank shot with 36 seconds left that could have drawn Serbia within one. Then, after a stagnant possession resulted in an airballed layup by George and a missed shot-clock beating 3 by Durant, Bogdanovic again failed to take advantage of a wide-open look borne of a ghastly U.S. defensive breakdown in the closing seconds, allowing the U.S. to escape with a 94-91 win.

Despite their best performance of these Olympic games, Serbia fell to 1-3 in Group A. The Serbians controlled the proceedings against the U.S. for the final three quarters, but a dismal start in which Team USA took an early 23-5 lead sealed their fate, producing a second straight disappointing result in which Serbia had a chance to knock off a higher-ranked team in the final seconds, only to fall short.

“We are that kind of a team that we never give up and we showed this today,” Teodosic said after the game, according to Tom Withers of The Associated Press. “This is third game in a row that we have a very bad beginning, and especially [against] the teams like the United States, it’s very tough to get back in the game when you are losing by 10 or 15 in the beginning.”

They nearly did it, though, thanks in part to the ball-on-a-string pick-and-roll dynamism of Teodosic, who finished with 18 points and six assists in 30 minutes of playing time that left many NBA fans — both those already familiar with his talents who’ve wanted to see him stateside for years, and those who’d just gotten introduced to his style — wondering why he’s playing in Russia.

Though he’s never pulled the trigger on the move, Teodosic confirmed that he’s entertained the idea of taking his talents to the world’s grandest stage:

Well … y’know … it’s never too late:

Until Teodosic actually hits the market, we’ll have to content ourselves with watching his international work at competitions like these, rewatching the highlights, and trying to figure out how in the world he saw Bogdanovic all the way back there on the wing. There are way worse ways to pass the time.

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!

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