Croatia shocks Spain as Saric blocks Gasol at buzzer

An overview shows (L-R) Spain’s centre Pau Gasol, Croatia’s centre Darko Planinic, Croatia’s forward Dario Saric and Croatia’s shooting guard Bojan Bogdanovic watching as the ball drops in the net during a Men’s round Group B basketball match between Croatia and Spain at the Carioca Arena 1 in Rio de Janeiro on August 7, 2016 during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. AFP

Dario Saric blocked Pau Gasol game-tying inside shot attempt at the final buzzer Sunday to secure Croatia’s 72-70 upset of Spain in a Rio Olympics men’s basketball preliminary round game.

The two NBA big men battled in the pain on the decisive play after an inbounds pass to Gasol under the basket.

The two-time NBA champion, now with the San Antonio Spurs, flipped up a shot that Saric, who plays for Philadlephia, batted away to seal the stunner in dramatic fashion.

Spain has taken silver in the past two Olympics behind the United States but the loss in the Group B opener is a sign that run could be in jeopardy.

Gasol had game highs of 26 points and nine rebounds while Nikola Mirotic added 19 points for the Spaniards.

Bojan Bogdanovic, a guard for the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, led Croatia with 23 points while Darko Paninic added 11 points and Krunoslav Simon had 10. Saric finished with five points, seven rebounds and five assists in addition to his lone blocked shot.

Croatia began the final period with an 10-2 run, seizing a 57-56 lead on Luka Babic’s fast break drive the length of the court that ended in a slam dunk with 6:25 to play.

The teams exchanged the lead five times, with Spain jumping ahead 67-64 on two free throws each by Sergio Rodriguez and Sergio Llull only for Saric to hit a free throw for Croatia.

Planinic hit an inside shot to pull Croatia level at 67-67 and Simon followed by stealing the ball from Rodriguez and scoring a layup to put Croatia ahead 69-67.

Simon added two tension-packed free throws to stretch the margin but Mirotic answered with a 3-pointer to lift Spain within 71-70.

Saric added 1-of-2 free throws to create the final margin.

Gasol scored nine of his 16 first-half points in the opening quarter to give Spain a 21-13 lead and the Spaniards stretched the margin as large as 38-26 before 3-pointers by Bogdanovic and Mario Hezonja cut the half-time deficit to six.

Gasol had four points to lead an 12-4 run starting the second half to give Spain a 50-36 edge. Croatia answered with an 11-1 spurt, captain Roko Ukic scoring five to spark the run, but Mirotic sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer to put Spain ahead 54-47 entering the fourth quarter.