Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads Canada past Spain in Paris Olympics
OKC Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Canada to an 88-85 win over Spain on Friday in a group phase game of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Canadian men’s basketball team will begin the 2024 Paris Olympic knockout stages with a quarterfinals game against France on Tuesday.
Canada, which is led by OKC Thunder guards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort, finished first in Group A play with a 3-0 record. France finished second in Group B play with a 2-1 record.
Here’s what you need to know:
Watch the 2024 Paris Olympics live with Fubo (free trial)
Quarterfinals: Germany-Greece | Australia-Serbia | Canada-France | United States-Brazil
Canada trimmed the deficit to five points midway through the fourth quarter, but it couldn’t complete the comeback. Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 27 points and five rebounds, while Dort scored eight points.
Yabusele led France with 22 points and five rebounds, while Cordinier scored 20 points.
Canada has been eliminated from the tournament. France will face Germany in the semifinals at 10:30 a.m. CT Thursday.
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Canada cut into France’s lead thanks in large part to Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored nine points in the quarter. That brought his game-high total to 22.
But France continued to do damage at the free throw line. It went 5 for 6 from the charity stripe in the quarter.
Gilgeous-Alexander came alive for Canada. He scored 11 straight points late in the second quarter, bringing his total to 13 entering halftime.
But France still expanded its lead, and it went 19 for 25 from the free throw line in the first half. Cordinier led the way with 13 points in the first half.
Canada averaged 89 points per game in group play, but it struggled to get anything going in the first quarter. It went 3 for 15 from the floor (1 for 7 from deep).
Meanwhile, France went 7 for 15 from the floor (3 for 9 from deep). Cordinier led the way with 10 points and two rebounds.
Canada will start Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Dillon Brooks, RJ Barrett and Dwight Powell.
France will start Frank Ntilikina, Isaia Cordinier, Nicolas Batum, Guerschon Yabusele and Victor Wembanyama.
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