AP Photo/Aaron Favila
This is another milestone for the Canadian men’s basketball team at the FIBA Basketball World Cup. With a 100-89 win over Slovenia, Canada advanced to the semi-finals of the FIBA Basketball World Cup for the first time in their history.
In what was shaping up to be a clash of stars – Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (SGA) against Slovenia’s Luka Doncic – both teams opened up the attacking machine in the first half before SGA and Canada took control of the situation in the second part of the match.
Canada is now guaranteed to play at least two more games in Manila, Philippines. They will face Serbia for a chance to play their first World Cup final.
Canada and Slovenia traded the scoring advantage 17 times in the first half of this quarter-final game.
Slovenia’s three-point shooting stats have been called “incredible” by national broadcast commentators, with the Slovenians hitting 69% of their shots from outside the semi-circle (9/13) over the first 15 minutes of play.
As expected, Luka Doncic led Slovenia, scoring 17 points with a 5-of-12 completion rate at halftime.
Shai wasted no time finding his offensive rhythm, starting the game with all four shots.
He scored 13 points in the first half with a 5-of-7 shooting success rate. His cousin, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, led with 10 points after taking the field with 2:29 remaining in the first quarter.
Despite Slovenia’s many shots, Canada stayed level and the game was tied at 50-50 at halftime.
Just as they did against France, Latvia and Spain, Canada took control early in the second half.
As their defense tightened and Slovenia’s three-point shooting stats regressed to average, Canada managed to take a more than 10-point lead thanks to baskets scored by SGA, Dillon Brooks and RJ Barrett.
Despite Canada leading by as much as 16 points during the quarter, Slovenia managed to close the gap late in the third quarter with two 3-point shots falling back from Luka Doncic. Canada led 80-71 after three quarters.
In a bizarre twist, Dillon Brooks received his second technical foul and was ejected from the game after hitting a three-point shot at 7:06 of the final quarter. Around 30 seconds later, Luka Doncic also received his second technical foul after challenging a no-call on a shot he missed.
Slovenia responded to the loss of their star player with an 8-1 winning streak, closing the gap to nine points with 4:17 left in the game.
But even in the most tense moments, SGA appeared calm and confident. He gave Canada a much-needed basket to extend the lead to more than 10 points, and Canada never looked back.
SGA finished with 31 points on with a remarkable 8-of-12 shooting stat, hitting 14 of 16 free throw attempts. He also grabbed 10 rebounds and made four assists.
RJ Barrett had a big game, scoring 24 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 14 points, as did Brooks, who was in high spirits as he saluted his team after the win.
Canada will face Serbia in the first FIBA Basketball World Cup semi-final appearance in program history.
Serbia pulled off an impressive quarter-final victory over previously undefeated Lithuania, winning 87-68. This game against the sixth-ranked FIBA team could be a taste of next year’s Olympics as Serbia qualified for Paris 2024 with this quarter-final victory.
The United States and Germany will meet in the other semi-final.
Canadian fans will have to get up early on Friday as the game against Serbia kicks off at 4:45 a.m. EST.
2023-09-06 16:11:10
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