Canada tops Spain to conclude Olympic men's basketball group play with perfect record

Some anxious Canadians waited for the final seconds to tick down on Friday.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wasn't among them.

The guard had helped Canada's men's basketball team take a 14-point lead over Spain in their final game of group play at the Paris Olympics, only to see the advantage wither to a single point with seconds left on the clock.

Despite the circumstances, Gilgeous-Alexander said he wasn't nervous.

"They obviously didn't want to go away. They're playing for their lives. We knew that going into the game. So it's a really good team," he said after hitting the two free throws that gave Canada an 88-85 win.

"They gave us everything they had. It was a good game."

WATCH l Gilgeous-Alexander leads Canadians with 20 points:

Canadian men's Olympic basketball team beats Spain to finish group play undefeated

4 months ago

Duration 2:30

Canada beats Spain 88-85 for a perfect 3-0 record in the preliminary round of the men's basketball tournament at Paris 2024. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads the Canadians with 20 points while Andrew Nembhard adds 18.

The victory saw Canada improve to 3-0 at the Olympic tournament. Spain was eliminated after falling to 1-2.

"You could see them fighting for their lives right to the end," said Canadian forward Kelly Olynyk. "For us, we're trying to put ourselves in the best position possible to succeed and hopefully we've done enough to do that."

The two sides were level at 19-19 at the end of the opening frame before Canada pulled away in the second quarter.

Nembhard put up 18 points on the night, eclipsing the 3.5 per game the 24-year-old from Aurora, Ont., averaged over his first two Olympic appearances.

"I'm playing with a new team, new guys, just trying to get a feel for it. And I think as the games go on, experience goes on, you get more and more comfortable," Nembhard said of the performance. "I think today, I just filled in the gaps where I was needed most."

The second-year point guard for the Indiana Pacers has played well in the tournament, said Canada's head coach, Jordi Fernandez.

"I think he's had a great performance," he said.

"We've always talked about being the X factor. When you have so many great NBA players that have different roles on their NBA team, and they come here and they're asked to do something else and — most of them — play less minutes, just the fact that they are selfless and they do whatever it takes for the team to win, that means the world for not just the rest of the team, but for the program. So these guys have the right mindset to be successful."

WATCH | Canada aims for Olympic gold, not just podium finish:

'We're trying to win the gold medal': Canadian men's basketball team on Olympic expectations

5 months ago

Duration 1:26

The Canadian men's basketball team have their eyes set on gold, after ending a 24-year Olympic drought.

Gilgeous-Alexander led the Canadians on Friday with 20 points, three rebounds and two assists.

Midway through the second, the 26-year-old from Toronto picked up a loose ball, weaved his way into the paint, spun and sank a shot that gave Canada a 32-28 lead.

The Canadians took a 49-38 lead into halftime before Spain began to chip away in the third.

Dario Brizuela paced the Spaniards on with 17 points across the game, and made all five of his three-point attempts.

With 2.7 seconds to go in the game, Sergio Llull whittled Canada's advantage to 86-85 with a three-pointer.

After a series of whistles for a timeout and a foul, Gilgeous-Alexander gave his team some breathing room — and the win — by making a pair of free throws.

Canada coach unhappy with 2nd half

Spain won the second half of the game on Friday, said head coach Jordi Fernandez.

"We were not good enough," he said. "And in that second half, I think we were a little loose with our execution, we were not good with rebounding throughout the game.

The result leaves Canada atop Group A heading into the knockout round, which begins with the quarterfinals in Paris on Tuesday. The semifinals are scheduled for Thursday and medal games are set for Aug. 10.

A draw on Saturday will determine the quarterfinal pairings, though Canada's perfect 3-0 record will figure into the weighting.

Going undefeated in group play was nice, Gilgeous-Alexander said, but there's a lot of Olympic basketball to go.

"You always want to win, so we'll take it," he said. "We played a lot of really good teams. We beat them all. Some things we can clean up for sure, but we'll take it."

Antetokounmpo helps Greece stay alive

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 20 points and seven rebounds as Greece outlasted Australia 77-71 on Friday to keep alive its hopes of advancing to next week's quarterfinal round in Olympic men's basketball.

Thomas Walkup added 18 points for Greece. Jock Landale led Australia with 17 points.

"We didn't want to leave this tournament without getting a win," Antetokounmpo said. "We felt like we had a very good team to not get the win. And we competed. We fight for all three games. And I think this has been a game that we had to fight for until the end."

The top two teams in each of the three groups automatically qualify for the quarterfinals. The final two spots in the next round go to the best third-place teams in group play.

Greece entered the day 0-2 in Group A play, needing to beat the Boomers by 10 or more points and for Canada to defeat Spain to ensure advancement to next week's knockout stage in Paris.

Greece's six-point victory and Canada's win over Spain gave Greece a third-place group finish, though advancing isn't guaranteed. Canada and Australia are moving on from Group A, along with France, Germany and Brazil in Group B and the U.S. in Group C. The final two spots will be determined by what happens Saturday in the Group C matchup between Serbia and South Sudan.

Caboclo leads Brazil past Japan

Bruno Caboclo had 33 points and 17 rebounds, sending Brazil to the victory. And by finishing with a better point differential than Greece, Brazil is assured of going to the quarterfinals as one of the best two third-place finishers.

Foul trouble limited Caboclo in Brazil's previous losses to France and Germany. He went scoreless against France and had just six points in 12 minutes of action against Germany before fouling out. He stayed on the court this time and made his presence felt.

Caboclo scored 15 of Brazil's first 31 points, helping it build a 16-point lead in the third quarter. But Japan rallied and got back within 77-73 entering the fourth.

Brazil closed the game on a 22-4 run.

Schroder pushes Germany past France

Dennis Schroder and Franz Wagner each scored 26 points and Germany beat France 85-71 in men's Olympic basketball on Friday in a matchup of two of the top contenders for the gold medal when the tournament shifts to Paris for the quarterfinals.

Daniel Theis added seven points and eight rebounds to help Germany finish unbeaten atop Group B.

It was France's first loss of the group stage.

Victor Wembanyama had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the host country, which trailed by 21 at halftime and struggled to deal with Wagner on the inside, and Schroder's outside shooting and ability to get into the interior of France's defence.

Germany outscored France 24-9 in the second quarter. France had eight turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.

With Wembanyama sitting to start the fourth, France finally found some traction, cutting the deficit to 12. By the time Wembanyama re-entered the game with 4:30 to play, Germany's lead had ballooned back up to 19.