The Senior Men’s National Team put the world on notice with a dominant 95-65 victory over France in their first game at the FIBA Men’s Basketball World Cup 2023 in Jakarta, Indonesia on Friday.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 27 points, 13 rebounds and six assists, Kelly Olynyk scored 18 points and Dillon Brooks and Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 12 points apiece as the Canadians blew the game open in the third, outscoring France 25-8 to go into the fourth leading by 20 points. With the win, Canada’s Senior Men’s National Team recorded its first-ever victory against France in a World Cup.
“We wanted to come out here, play to our identity, do the right things on the basketball court on both ends,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We didn't start the way we wanted to, We started a little bit slow, but we got it on track pretty fast and it was pretty good the rest of the game.”
Evan Fournier had 21 points to lead France, but only two after halftime as Canada’s defence held France to just 25 points in the second half. Nando De Colo and Mathias Lessort added 12 points apiece in the loss.
After giving up a 9-0 run to France to close the first quarter, Canada trailed by four, 18-14 after the opening 10 minutes. They turned things around in the second quarter with a big effort from Olynyk to go into the half with a three-point, 43-40 lead.
It was the third quarter where Canada took complete control, shocking the 2020 Olympic silver medallists by holding them to just three field goals in the quarter.
“We played really good basketball today,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We did the right things on both ends of the floor, for the most part in the game. We know when we do that, play to our identity, the things we’ve been preaching for the last month, we can beat and play with anyone in the world. We’ve just got to continue getting better and the sky's the limit.”
As Canada’s defence was shutting down France, Gilgeous-Alexander was heating up. After scoring 13 points in the first half, Gilgeous-Alexander exploded for 13 points in the third, outscoring France by himself in the quarter.
“Our defence really kept us in the game,” Fernández said. “The second half, we continued our defence and made some shots. Shai put a run together for himself and that really opened up the game.”
Canada opened the third quarter with a three for Brooks assisted by Gilgeous-Alexander to extend their lead to six points. After Fournier’s hot-shooting first half, Canada worked to make him uncomfortable in the third.
“They were really physical with us, taking us out of our set plays,” Fournier said. “I think as a team, they forced us to do things that we don't want to do. At first we were able to score every now and then. Our defence was solid. But as the game went on they kept applying pressure and got the best of us.”
Back-to-back buckets for Gilgeous-Alexander extended Canada’s lead to 10 until a basket inside for Rudy Gobert gave France its first points of the half.
“We use our defence to ignite our offence,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We get stops, we’re able to rebound, run, play in transition and then we play pretty good.”
Gilgeous-Alexander drilled another shot from the baseline and then a steal from Dwight Powell inside led to a three-point play for Brooks. A three-pointer from Alexander-Walker, assisted by Gilgeous-Alexander, gave Canada a 68-48 lead heading into the fourth.
Canada continued to stretch its lead in the final quarter as a three from Alexander-Walker made it 80-52 with 5:54 remaining. Another three, this time from RJ Barrett, pushed the advantage to 31 points, 83-52.
Fernández subbed in his reserves with 2:15 remaining and Canada leading by 31 points. A three-pointer for Kyle Alexander with three seconds remaining kept the margin of victory at 30 points as the Canadians moved to 1-0 in Jakarta.
With their first victory secured, Canada will now shift their focus to their next opponent.
Next up for the Canadians is a meeting with Lebanon on Sunday, Aug. 27 at 5:45 a.m. ET/2:45 a.m. PT. Fans in Canada can watch the action live on Sportsnet.
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