It was a cyclone. Canada swept France this Friday in Jakarta in the most outstanding match of the first day of the Basketball World Cup. It was a resounding victory, by 30 points, 95-65, built on a second half in which the French team, current Olympic and European runner-up, raised the white flag: only eight points in the third quarter, and 17 in the last when the appointment was already sentenced. Canada hits the table and establishes itself as one of the favorites to compete for the medals. The team coached by the Spanish Jordi Fernández exhibited great physical power and a collective game finished off by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Oklahoma City point guard who shone especially with 27 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists.
France was left without an answer in the second half against the vigorous, fast and supportive play of Canada. The French team took the first advantages in the match with De Colo-Fournier-Batum-Yabusele-Gobert as the ideal quintet, but the North American team soon shook off their nerves, equalized the duel in the first half and flew in the second. The Canadian victory is of great weight because both teams are the great favorites to overcome this first group stage, which in their case they share with Latvia and Lebanon. The best two will go on to a second group in which they will cross paths with the qualifiers from the quartet made up of Spain, Brazil, the Ivory Coast and Iran. The wins and losses of the first phase are computed, as well as the score. Hence the value of Canada’s forceful performance.
Australia, another of the favorite teams to compete for the medals, knocked down Finland 72-98 with 25 points and 8 rebounds from Atlanta Hawks point guard Patty Mills. In the Finnish team, Lauri Markkanen was the most outstanding with 19 points and 8 rebounds. Germany, semifinalist of the last Eurobasket against the Spanish team, and second in the FIBA favorites ranking, dispatched Japan 81-63 with 25 points and 9 rebounds from Wagner. And Lithuania easily beat Egypt 67-93 (15 points and 10 rebounds from Valanciunas).
And one piece of information: 38,115 viewers. The World Cup began this Friday with a record number of people in a basketball World Cup event. The Philippine Arena in Manila registered the largest number of fans ever to attend a World Cup match. It was in the duel between one of the hosts of the tournament, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic, which they won 87-81. The mark exceeded the 32,616 viewers who watched the 1994 World Cup final live at the Sky Dome in Toronto, when the United States beat Russia 137-91. In the NBA, the record was broken last January. In celebration of the franchise’s 50th anniversary, the San Antonio Spurs packed the Alamodome track with 68,323 spectators in a game against the Warriors. In the ACB, the brand belongs to Baskonia, which on two occasions, against Madrid in 2016 and 2018, have hung the no-ticket sign: 15,544 fans.
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