Serbia, the reigning world and Olympic silver medallists behind the Americans, had looked imperious in their previous four matches, but this loss will raise questions about their title credentials. Coach Sasha Djordjevic said Spain were the better team and refused to use the loss of Jokic - turfed out after yelling at a referee - as an excuse. But he hard harsh words for his key man, saying: "I did not like the stupid reaction of my player, who should be on the floor.
"We can even lose with him, why not if the other team is better? But he should stay on the floor and be one of the leaders." In one of the most eagerly anticipated games of the tournament so far, Spain surged back from a slow start in the first quarter to lead by eight points at half-time in Wuhan.