Serbia defeated co‑host Latvia 84–80 in Riga behind a towering night from Nikola Jokić, who recorded a national‑team career high in scoring to drive his team over the line. Latvia defended aggressively, testing whether turning Jokić into a volume scorer would reduce Serbia’s connective passing. Instead, the two‑time NBA MVP answered with efficient finishing and late‑clock shot‑making while Serbia’s defense held up against Latvia’s shooters.
Latvia, backed by a partisan crowd, generated momentum swings with spacing and secondary creation, but an off‑night from deep in key stretches blunted the comeback. Serbia’s role players supplied just enough complementary play to preserve the lead, including possession‑saving rebounds and pressure releases against traps. The tactical cat‑and‑mouse—switching between hedges, shows and selective doubles—was a clinic in tournament problem‑solving.
The victory confirmed Serbia’s Round‑of‑16 credentials early and underscored the challenges of facing Jokić when single‑coverage can’t survive. For Latvia, the narrow margin offers encouragement ahead of the final group fixtures in front of home support, where a couple of made threes in similar game states could swing outcomes the other way.
The group phase runs from August 27 to September 4 across Riga (Group A), Tampere (Group B), Limassol (Group C) and Katowice (Group D). The Round of 16 is single-elimination on September 6–7, followed by quarterfinals on September 9–10, semifinals on September 12, and the final on September 14 in Riga. Twenty-four teams play five group games each, with the top four in every group advancing. These dates and the multi-host setup are defined by FIBA for EuroBasket 2025 and shape the tactical choices teams make during the first week.
