For the first time in 8,701 days, the Canadian men’s basketball team played and won an Olympic game.
In the final basketball match on Saturday, Canada defeated Greece 86-79 at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille, France.
Canada was lockdown defensively right out of the gate, leading 22-9 with just under four minutes left in the first quarter. The Canadians forced Greece to have more turnovers (four) than baskets (two) at the time with their high defensive intensity.
Once the red and white’s bench came on, however, Greece would go on a 13-4 run to end the first quarter. It resembled the 10-0 run the Greeks went on toward the end of the final frame to almost complete the comeback.
Regardless, Canada jumped out to that big lead and never gave it up, surviving for the wire-to-wire win.
There is no better place to start than with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Hamilton, Ontario native packed the stat sheet finishing with 21 points, seven assists, five rebounds, two blocks, and one steal.
Per Keerthika Uthayakumar, those seven assists were the most by a Canadian man at the Olympics since Steve Nash did so in 2000.
Gilgeous-Alexander got going early, scoring eight of Canada’s first 19 points. He constantly was getting defenders off-balance, while getting to the paint and creating contact. He attempted 10 free throws in the contest, making nine.
The 26-year-old was efficient from the charity stripe while also getting good shots from the floor, going 5-for-10 (50 percent) from the field and 2-for-3 (66.6 percent) from deep.
The first bucket in 24 years at the Olympics came from the youngest member of the squad, RJ Barrett. The 24-year-old also scored the final basket for Canada, capping off his 23-point, four-rebound, and three-assist afternoon.
Those 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting were the most by a Canadian at the Olympics since Todd MacCulloch against France in 2000.
Barrett was only three months old when his father Rowan Barrett led Canada at the 2000 Olympics and he joined his father by scoring 20-plus points in his Olympic debut, just like Barrett Sr. did many years ago.
Barrett and Gilgeous-Alexander also became the third Canadian duo to score more than 20 points apiece in their Olympic debuts, joining Rowan Barrett (21 points) and Michael Meeks (27) vs Australia in 2000.
“Maple Mamba” relentlessly attacked the left side of the basket all game, allowing him to lead all Canadian scorers with his 23 points. He became the fifth-highest debutant scorer, sitting five points behind Meeks’ 27 in 2000.
Giannis Antetokounmpo proved to be a lot for the Canadians to handle.
In Greece’s first appearance at the Olympic games in 16 years, the freak put up a game-high 34 points, five rebounds, two assists, and went 12-for-15 from the free throw line.
Per Keerthika Uthayakumar, Antetokounmpo’s 34 points were the most by a Greek man at the Olympics since Georgios Sigalas had 35 in 1996. It was also the third most points scored by a Greek man in Olympic history.
Giannis drew contact all night, causing Canada’s trio of best defenders Dillon Brooks, Lu Dort, and Dwight Powell to all foul out. Those were the main guys on Giannis all game, with Brooks and Powell spending the majority of the time guarding him.
It wasn’t just those three however, the Canadians had all five guys in the paint at times trying to stop the Milwaukee Bucks superstar, but the 29-year-old eventually bruised and battered his way through.
Kostas Papanikolaou (Greece) – 17 points, four rebounds, three assists, two blocks, two steals, 3-for-6 from beyond the arc.
Dillon Brooks (Canada) – 14 points, five rebounds, one steal, +24, 3-for-4 from deep.
Lu Dort (Canada) – eight points, four rebounds, two assists, one steal, +26, 2-for-4 from distance.
Next up for the red and white is Australia. They took down Spain 92-80 earlier in the day and currently sit ahead of the Canadians in the Group A standings due to point differential. This likely means the winner of Tuesday morning’s match will come out on top of the group when the dust is settled.
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