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Sacramento Kings: Bogdanovic and Bjelica Lead Serbia To Big Wins

By Anthony Cardenas

FOSHAN, CHINA - SEPTEMBER 02: #7 Bogdan Bogdanovic of the Serbia National Team in action against #18 Troy Rosario of the Philippines National Team during the 1st round of 2019 FIBA World Cup at GBA International Sports and Cultural Center on September 02, 2019 in Foshan, China. (Photo by Zhong Zhi/Getty Images)
FOSHAN, CHINA - SEPTEMBER 02: #7 Bogdan Bogdanovic of the Serbia National Team in action against #18 Troy Rosario of the Philippines National Team during the 1st round of 2019 FIBA World Cup at GBA International Sports and Cultural Center on September 02, 2019 in Foshan, China. (Photo by Zhong Zhi/Getty Images) /
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Sacramento Kings
Sacramento Kings (Photo by Zhong Zhi/Getty Images) /

The Serbian National Team has been putting on a show during the first two games of group play in the FIBA World Cup, and they have two Kings who are stealing the spotlight.

The results over the first three days of the 2019 FIBA World Cup have been music to the ears of Sacramento Kings fans.

In the first game of group play, Serbia took on Angola in what turned out to be a rout. The Serbs won by 46 points, 105-59 the final score. Despite having NBA MVP candidate Nikola Jokic on the roster, it was the Kings own Bogdan Bogdanovic who stole the show.

Bogdanovic scored 24 points in just under twenty minutes of playtime. He was 8 of 10 from the field including 5 of 7 from deep and hit all three of this free throws. Most of his shots were completely uncontested, as Angola was obviously overmatched.

The other Sacramento King on the Serbian roster was the only player to receive a DNP – Coaches Decision. It was speculated that Nemanja Bjelica was held off the court simply for a day of rest, an early load management day.

The speculation appears that it was correct, as Bjelica led Serbia to victory in their second game of group play.

Early Monday morning, the Serbs defeated yet another overmatched team, this time the Philippines, by a final score of 126-76. It was Bjelica who led the team in scoring this time around with a very impressive shooting performance. The Kings power forward scored 20 points on 7 of 7 shooting, including 3 three-pointers to go along with a 100% free throw percentage.

Bjelica accomplished this despite playing just 16.5 minutes. Bogdanovic got a similar amount of playing time and scored 17 points himself on 75% shooting, going 4 for 5 from deep.

The outstanding shooting percentages by the two is a great sign for the Sacramento Kings. Head coach Luke Walton has plans for the Kings to shoot a lot of threes this season, and the more firepower the better. Both Bogdanovic and Bjelica are going to be second unit players, a unit that will need scorers and perimeter threats.

Next. Who Takes Clutch Shots For The Kings?. dark

On Wednesday, Serbia will play an Italian team that has a couple of NBA players and has beaten both Angola and Philippines by similar margins.

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