Croatia wins Group B behind 3-point barrage

Croatia was the surprise winner of Group B, burying 3-pointers at an incredible rate to surprise Lithuania. Mario Hezonja scored six points in the win.

Mario Hezonja got the loose ball as the buzzer sounded ending qualification play at the Olympic Basketball Tournament. He rose up with two hands for an emphatic dunk that meant absolutely nothing in a 90-81 victory over Lithuania at Carioca Arena.

The emotion and power from that jam though, along with the enthusiasm from the bench, was the cathartic release of a team that had to fight its way into the field and seemed to be on their way out of the tournament after a disappointing loss to Nigeria on Saturday.

Croatia, a team that seems to frustrate observers and critics so much with isolation-heavy basketball, had won Group B. Improbably at that.

The 90-81 victory started off bad as Croatia was abused defensively. The 3-pointers though would soon start falling.

Croatia made 11 of 18 3-pointers, including 9 of 11 before halftime, to take as much as a 20-point lead. They moved the ball inside and out, took and made open threes. The defense was not providing much resistance.

Mario Hezonja scored his only two baskets during this second-quarter stretch where Croatia took the lead and began pulling away. This was Hezonja at his best in this role. Getting the ball open in the corner and draining the 3-pointer.

Hezonja had six points, making two of his four shots. He added four rebounds too.

Hezonja has largely played within himself and fit in the role Croatia has for him. That means standing on the perimeter and spreading the floor. He does not get to move around a lot and is purely a spot-up shooter for the Croatian national team.

Hezonja though showed a more expansive game within that role. He showed off a good jab step to free him some space and make a 3-pointer. That move has been a nice addition to his arsenal as Hezonja has been very effective from beyond the arc this tournament.

In the second half, Hezonja became more facilitator. He set solid screens to free up Krunoslav Simon and Bojan Bogdanovic and moved the ball quickly when he got the ball on the perimeter, always to the open man. He is not wracking up assists, but Hezonja made the right play.

Hezonja is not making very many mistakes throughout this tournament on the offensive end. While the Magic fans might want to see him be more assertive and aggressive, he is not put in a position to do that often in this offense. He is filling his role successfully.

Croatia was just shooting lights out. Getting a big game from Simon — 19 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, but also four turnovers. Bogdanovic had 22 points, continuing his scoring onslaught. Dario Saric added 18 points.

Hezonja still has some work to do defensively. That was still a work in progress for Croatia overall. Hezonja would get caught on screens and he would struggle to recover and communicate a switch — or they would not communicate the screen is coming.

Hezonja throughout the summer has had good effort trying to recover and get back to the play. But he still seems to lack the speed to keep his man in front of him when he pressures. His closeouts were fine and he was good sticking to his man.

These will be points for him to continue to improve and his defensive role is largely on other shooters and secondary players.

Hezonja has played his role. And he and his teammates played it to perfection through three quarters to build a large enough lead to secure not only passage to the knockout stage, but to win the group.

Next: Frank Vogel on chemistry: 'We have to work on it every day'

Croatia will play Serbia in the quarterfinal Wednesday at 9:15 p.m. ET.