NBA superstar, villain ejected in fiery scenes; German’s horror show in nervy win: WC Wrap
Canada beat Slovenia to finish Luka Doncic’s Basketball World Cup dream and attain the semi-finals for the primary time on Wednesday, whereas Germany overcame a poor effort on offence to affix them within the ultimate 4.
Canada outbattled a Slovenia workforce led by Dallas Mavericks celebrity Doncic 100-89 in Manila to arrange a showdown with Serbia on Friday.
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Germany will face the United States within the semi-finals the identical day after beating giant-killers Latvia.
Germany and Serbia additionally certified for the Paris Olympics as the 2 highest-placed European groups on the World Cup, with Slovenia and Latvia eradicated.
Doncic was thrown out of the sport within the fourth quarter in opposition to Canada after choosing up his second technical foul.
Canada’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander stated his workforce weren’t glad with what they achieved and set his sights greater than the semi-finals.
“Just putting on the jersey is an honour in itself, and to win is another good feeling,” stated Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 31 factors and had 10 rebounds and 4 assists.
“We’re not satisfied. We want to win gold.”
Canada got here via a bruising encounter that noticed each Doncic and Dillon Brooks ejected within the fourth quarter.
Brooks was engaged in a working battle with Doncic your entire recreation, utilizing defensive methods to throw the Slovenian star off rhythm.
Doncic admitted that his feelings obtained the higher of him and vowed to “be better for my team” sooner or later.
“I think everybody knows what the frustration was,” he stated.
Canada & Germany keep alive in World Cup | 00:54
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“Playing for the national team, there’s a lot of emotions.
“A lot of times I have to control myself, which I’m having problems with.” The two groups have been locked at 50-50 on the halftime break.
Canada started to edge forward after the interval, helped by a well timed three-pointer from Brooks that gave his workforce a seven-point lead.
Centre Kelly Olynyk stated the semi-final in opposition to Serbia could be “another battle”.
“We’re trying to do something that Canada basketball has never done, and we’ve got to do it together,” he stated.
“We’ve got two more games and we’ve just got to keep playing the way we play.”
Earlier within the day, Germany ended Latvia’s dream run on the event with a nervy 81-79 win to squeeze into the semi-finals and a conflict with the US.
Debutants Latvia had already overwhelmed defending champions Spain and Tokyo Olympics silver-medallists France on their option to the quarter-finals.
Germany head coach Gordon Herbert stated his workforce had “a little bit of a stinker on the offensive end”, with playmaker Dennis Schroder scoring solely 4 of his 26 field-goal makes an attempt.
“That’s probably the worst game I ever played in my career,” stated Schroder.
“But we’re still in the semi-finals so shout out to all these guys in the locker room for helping me win this game.
“That’s the reason why we’re all together and we’re a special team.” Latvia gave the unbeaten Germans a fright by leaping out to a 10-point lead after solely 5 minutes, with Davis Bertans in lethal kind from three-point vary.
Germany finally gained the higher hand earlier than a barnstorming end from Latvia made the rating nearer than Germany would have appreciated.
“I think one of the strengths of this group is we’re a team, and our bench the last three or four games has been outstanding,” stated Herbert.
“We’re able to play 12 guys if necessary.” Bertans stated he was extraordinarily happy with Latvia’s efficiency. “We battled in every single game,” stated Bertans, whose brother Dairis — the workforce captain — suffered a tournament-ending damage within the first spherical.
“I think we put ourselves in a position to win, not because of any individual players — because we played like a team, we played the right way and unfortunately we couldn’t get it done at the end.”
SEMI FINAL FIXTURES (ALL TIMES AEST)
Serbia v Canada, Friday September 8 at 6:45pm
USA v Germany, Friday September 8 at 10:40pm
