CANADA spoiled the first game of Luka Doncic in the Philippines, beating Slovenia, 100-89, on Wednesday night to advance to the semifinals of the 2023 Fiba Basketball World Cup.
Canada vs Slovenia recap Fiba Basketball World Cup 2023
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Canada’s third-quarter pullaway after a 50-50 halftime deadlock to frustrate not just Doncic but the Filipino fans at the Mall of Asia Arena who came predominantly due to the Dallas Mavericks star.
The night ended prematurely for the Filipino favorite when Doncic was slapped with his second technical foul in the 6:37-mark of the fourth due to complaining to the referees.
Doncic spent most of the game being defended by Dillon Brooks, who was continuously booed by the Filipino fans perhaps due to his spat with Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James during the recent NBA playoffs.
Canada will face Serbia in the semifinals on Friday, while relegating Doncic and the rest of Slovenia in the classification round against Lithuania.
Gilgeous-Alexander, the Oklahoma City Thunder star who is the only All-NBA Team alongside Doncic in the World Cup, finished with 31 points and was once again his efficient self, making 8-of-12 from the field and 14-of-16 from the free throw line. He also grabbed 10 rebounds.
RJ Barrett also delivered as he scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Canada, which advanced to the final four for the first time in World Cup history.
“Congratulations to these guys,” said Canada coach Jordi Fernandez, referring to his team. “This is the best position so far that Canada has qualified so congratulations to our guys… Tonight was a fight and the guys executed at a high level.”
Doncic earned every point as he finished with 26 but shot 8 of 20 from the field, but was no longer around when Slovenia had a late surge to pull to within nine points.
The scores:
Canada (100) - Gilgeous-Alexander 31, Barrett 24, Brooks 14, Alexander-Walker 14, Dort 8, Olynyk 7, Alexander 2, Powell 0, Ejim 0, Bell-Haynes DNP, Edey DNP, Scrubb DNP.
Slovenia (89) - Doncic 26, K. Prepelic 22, Dragic 10, Nikolic 8, Tobey 8, Hrovat 7, Blazic 3, Cebasek 3, Dimec 2, B. Prepelic 0, Glas DNP, Samar DNP.
Quarterscores: 26-24; 50-50; 80-71; 100-89.
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