Turkey was down by two points with 22 seconds left against Australia in the FIBA World Cup Round of 16. The move? Give the ball to forward Emir Preldzic, get the hell out of the way and let him do this.
Emir Preldzic hits game-winning 3, everyone on Turkey goes crazy
The veteran Turkish forward hit the shot of his career to carry Turkey to an improbable victory over Australia in the FIBA World Cup Round of 16.
Christof Koepsel
What that clip doesn’t show: Preldzic (whose NBA rights are owned by the Mavericks) taking the ball out of bounds, waving all his teammates off, running the clock down and stepping into that contested three. If he missed, we’d kill Turkey’s coaching staff for calling a clearout. But he made it, so we’re talking about his onions.
And once Australia turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, everyone went nuts.
Turkey moves on to face Lithuania in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Australia is left to ponder the five-point lead it blew in the closing seconds and the possibility that karma bit the team back after allegations of tanking in the final group stage game to fall to third place and avoid Team USA until the semifinals.
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