Brazil started the second phase of the FIBA World Cup with a 69-65 victory over Canada, putting themselves in an good position in this group.
Brazil had a better start to the game, taking an early lead of 12-5, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ensured that his team trailed by only ‘half a basket’ before the first quarter ended. Thanks to the furious play of Shai and Luguentz Dort, Canada managed to turn the game around in the second quarter, going into halftime with a 10-point lead.
It seemed that Canada would settle the matter in the third quarter, but Brazil closed the gap to single digits with a 5-0 run towards the end of the period. The Brazilian team performed much better in the second half, culminating in Yago Dos Santos‘ fantastic sequences when the game was ‘on the line,’ leading Brazil to a significant victory over the favored opponent.
The top scorer for Brazil was Bruno Caboclo with 19 points, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander stood out for Canada with 23 points.
Canada, Spain, Brazil, and Latvia now have a 3-1 record in Group L, so the head-to-head matchups on Sunday will directly determine who advances.
Canada will face Spain for a chance to advance, while Brazil will take on Latvia.
The game started well for Canada with Dwight Powell, who brought an initial lead to his team at 5-3. On the other side, Bruno Caboclo entered the game in the right way, needing less than five minutes to score seven points. With a 10-0 run, Brazil took a seven-point lead (12-5), but that didn’t alarm Jordi Fernandez to call a timeout. With an 8-2 mini-run, Canada closed the gap to just “half a basket” deficit, but Gui Santos made sure that there was no turnaround at the end of the first quarter (16-13).
A couple of good plays by Kelly Olynyk at the beginning of the second quarter were enough for Canada to tie the game (20-20). The in-form Luguentz Dort scored six straight points to give his team the lead (26-22), and Gustavo De Conti, similar to his counterpart on the Canadian bench, decided to trust his players without calling a timeout. The reaction came in the form of five points from Vitor Benite, bringing Brazil back within one point (28-27).
The crucial moment in the second quarter was Caboclo committing an unsportsmanlike foul on Olynyk, which the Canadians “punished” with a 10-0 run (37-27). Unlike the previous situation, the Brazilian coach had to call a timeout to stop the opponent’s surge. The score remained unchanged until the end of the half, with Canada going into halftime as the more satisfied team.
Indeed, Fernandez’s players opened the third quarter quite slowly, which Brazil used to approach within two possessions (42-36). The Brazilian surge was interrupted by Dort with four straight points, and after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s three-pointer, the difference was again in double digits (50-40). There was no need for De Conti to call a timeout, given that the net on one hoop had broken, so the players received an (unexpected) extended break.
Brazil’s bad minutes were first interrupted by Yago Dos Santos, and then a three-pointer by Lucas Dias reduced the deficit to single digits before the last 10 minutes (52-45). Despite the greater quality possessed by Canada’s players, it became clear that Brazil would not give up as long as there was a chance of victory.
It seems that the Canadians may have underestimated their opponents at the beginning of the fourth quarter, which Brazil used to create an 8-0 run, taking the lead on the wings of Dias and Santos. Gilgeous-Alexander tried to rally his team, but Brazil had a ready answer this time (55-55). Fernandez’s team just couldn’t find its shooting rhythm, which Brazil, on the other hand, gradually capitalized on, taking the lead – 60-59.
With a basket by Yago Dos Santos, Brazil took a two-point lead, and in the next possession, luck smiled upon them when Dort hit a three-pointer just a fraction of a second after the shot clock expired (62-20). With another successful layup by Yago, Brazil went up by four, and Fernandez had to call a timeout to try to get his players back on track for the crucial 26 seconds of play. With a poorly executed possession, the Canadians “shot themselves in the foot” and put their place in the next round of the FIBA World Cup in jeopardy.