Four years after Dirk Nowitzki bid farewell as an all-time great and NBA legend, a Dirk-less German team completed a fairytale run at the 2023 FIBA World Cup, crowning themselves basketball world champions for the first time. Two days after pulling an historic upset against Team USA in the semifinal, Germany held off Serbia 83-77 in a thrilling final on Sunday.
Lead by NBA stars Dennis Schröder and Franz Wagner with 28 and 19 points, respectively, Germany pulled ahead in the third quarter after the game had been tied at halftime. A 22-10 run in said third quarter ultimately proved decisive as Germany managed to hold on to its lead throughout the fourth period. Serbia came close to tying the game once, after Marko Guduric made a pair of free throws with 39.5 seconds left on the clock, but once again it was Schröder who took responsibility for Germany, driving to the basket and making a layup to restore a four-point lead with just 21 seconds left. A missed three-pointer, followed by a misplaced pass all but sealed victory for Germany, whose best result at a World Cup had previously been a bronze medal in 2002.
For Serbia, who were without their best player Nikola Jokic, it was the second defeat in a gold medal game after 2014, when Team USA dismantled them 129-92. Germany hasn’t come anywhere near a championship game in recent years, finishing 17th in 2010, 18th in 2019 and not qualifying in 2014. All that agony will only be a sidebar to yesterday’s historic triumph now.
