The soloists broke up a team. Spain was defeated by Canada (85-88), although it continued its resistance until the last second with a choir and solidarity basketball exercise. The team bowed out of the World Cup in the second phase of the championship, will not play in the quarterfinals and will have To for a twisty pre-Olympic tournament without a direct ticket to the Games from July 2-7 this year in order to be in Paris 2024. The wall that Scariolo’s team built brick by brick was torn down by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 30 points and Dillon Brooks with 22. There was too much ammunition for a team with Willy (25) and Aldama (20) as offensive players and a performance on defense was not enough to maintain the 12-point lead with which they had entered the final quarter. Spain was statistically superior in rebounds, assists and steals, but lost because that’s sport. The reigning world champion, European champion and number one in the rankings will watch the games from home: Italy-USA, Germany-Latvia, Lithuania-Serbia and Canada-Slovenia.
Spain opened the fight with Núñez as referee. The team needed a generator to avoid jams like against Slovenia, and the young point guard is the clearest in his class. Scariolo protected him with Abrines as escort and Claver as striker along with the Hernangómez. This new connection between Núñez and Willy produced the first basket and the team began to fight under the edge of mined territory. Canada is a talent full of muscle. Every ball was fought for with gritted teeth and Spain had to flee onto the pitch, determined to score the rebound, as the action was decided in close combat. Willy got bigger in the early stages of recognition, Dort scored the first triple and Abrines responded with another outside bingo. In a tough head-to-head race, Spain defeated Spain (16-10), a competitive team that solidifies the defense. Each piece did its job. Scariolo bounced back with Díaz, Llull, Rudy, Aldama and Garuba in two substitution windows. Canada ran, still without much news from its star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but with the hot wrist at a distance. The change of jersey didn’t go well with Spain, who conceded a run of 2:11 and held on until the first break with a dart from Díaz from a distance (21:21).
Contact Rudy. The eternal 38-year-old captain was brought in to mentor the younger workers. Like Aldama, who fended off his fears with a long-range success, a drive to the rim and a dunk after a flying pass from the striker. Shai Gilgeous then appeared on the opposing board with two blitzes, a three-pointer and a counterattack after the Reds recovered. The NBA figure had said that the ball assisted Brooks in his vertical attacks at the net. It was a do-or-die date and Garuba blocked Olynyk (30-30) while Abrines honed his specialty as a shooter. Shai continued to bite and dodged the guards Scariolo placed on him. An unsportsmanlike performance from Brooks and a loss from Willy gave Spain (40-33) some breathing room in a high-decibel duel. The Spanish center finally shone at the level required by the championship and his status as the best player of the past Eurobasket. Eight consecutive points for the Madrid native (18 and five rebounds in the first half) and that all-in-one defense, which is almost a birthmark, gave Spain the largest lead right at halftime (48-38). The selection was neck and neck.
Six minutes before the start of the third quarter, the Canadian players were already on the field. Jordi Fernández’s talk was short and concise. Scariolo repeated the starting five, but before the ball came into play, Abrines had committed a foul on offense. And from the selection there were a total of four in 70 seconds. Spain had difficulty surviving the initial attacks and Núñez invented a juggling basket. With a good deficit and with Shai Gilgeous as double agent, driver and enforcer, Canada got into the rhythm of the game (50-46). Willy came to the rescue and Rudy returned to the racetrack. The tension was already high and the referees gave Scariolo a technical for protesting against a foul by Willy. A triple from Barrett and another raid from Brooks got the game going (52-52). The North American team was awake and wearing everything indoors and outdoors. Spain ran out of time of possession. The team was stunned by the change and it was Rudy who took the ball to his chest with a three-pointer and a foul caused on offense. A leader never lets his team down. Brizuela in his role as agitator and Aldama with two long-range attacks were infected by this energy and at the worst moment Spain came back to life (69-61). It was a test of character. The Spanish defended with a thousand hands and with their hearts. Before the last round: 73-61 for La Familia.
Brooks with an early triple and Shai Gilgeous with two free throws reduced the lead and made it clear that there was still a lot of fight ahead of us. The team launched into a counterattack, suffered another defeat and returned to one of those thicket phases with the ball in hand, also annoyed with the referee. Another long-distance bingo from Brooks corrected the scores even more (74-69) with a partial 0-8. Aldama broke it, ending a four-minute drought without a basket. Willy returned to the fight, as did Abrines and Núñez. Canada hit one against another with his powerful body. Like in this Shai Gilgeous adventure that ended with two plus one, which brought the game to a fast end (78-77, 1 minute and 32 seconds left). The decision to advance to the quarter-finals was made on each tile. Two free throws from Willy, another three from Brooks and with a minute left it was 80-80. Shai Gilgeous and Canada’s dance are one step ahead at 43 seconds. And a lost ball of the national team, Shai, which does not fail and is already impossible despite the last flashes of Núñez and Aldama and a triple launched by Abrines in the tenth final (only 12 points for Scariolo’s team in the last quarter). In their best game of the World Cup, Spain said goodbye, said goodbye to the crossroads and will have to play pre-Olympics to get to the Games. This time the soloists beat a great team.
SPAIN, 85; CANADA, 88
Spain: Núñez (4), Abrines (11), Claver (3), Juancho Hernangómez (4) and Willy Hernangómez (25) – starting quintet –; Díaz (3), Aldama (20), Brizuela (8), Rudy Fernández (3), Garuba (4) and Llull (0).
Canada: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (30), Brooks (22), Barrett (16), Olynyk (6) and Powell (6) – starting quintet –; Alexander (0), Dort (3), Alexander-Walker (5), Haynes (0) and Ejim (-).
Partials: 21-21, 27-17, 25-23 and 12-27.
Referee: Julio Anaya (Pan), Juan Fernández (Aar) and Jenna Jordan Reneau (USA). They eliminated Barrett.
Indonesia Arena: 12,493 spectators.
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