Australia, France, and Canada all secured crucial day one wins on Saturday in Paris in their opening match-ups.
Australia defeated Spain 92-80, France took care of Brazil 78-66, and Canada held off Greece 86-79.
For Australia, five players finished in double figures, led by Jock Landale’s 20 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. The Houston Rocket was 9-for-14 from the field. Patty Mills added 19 points while Josh Giddey starred with 17 points, eight assists and eight rebounds. Dyson Daniels (Atlanta Hawks) and Jack McVeigh (Houston Rockets) both scored 13.
Memphis Grizzlies’ big man Santi Aldama scored a game-high 27 for Spain, while Sergio Llul scored 17 off the bench. Willy Hernangomez scored 14.
France received big time performances from Victor Wembanyama and Nic Batum, both of whom finished with 19 points. Wembanyama scored 14 in the opening half and was particularly impressive finishing inside. France held Brazil to just nine points in the third quarter. Brazil got 14 points from Cristiano Felicio and Leo Meindl, and also 11 points from 41-year-old Marcelo Huertas.
Canada was able to fend off a late rally from Greece, who kept things close down the stretch. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Lu Dort made big plays in crunch time, though, to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece at bay. Trailing 48-38 at halftime, Greece got within two, 80-78, with under a minute left on an Antetokounmpo dunk, but Gilgeous-Alexander promptly responded with a jump shot. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 while R.J. Barrett led the Canadians with 23 points. Dillon Brooks played sound defense and finished with 14 points and six rebounds, but he, Dort and Dwight Powell all fouled out, leaving Canada short handed late in the game. Jamal Murray came off the bench and scored eight points on just 2-for-6 shooting.
Antetokounmpo, as needed, played spectacularly, with 34 points on 11-for-17 shooting and 12-for-15 from the line. Kostas Papanikolaou added 17 for Greece.
The United States debuts tomorrow against Serbia in Group C action at 11:15 a.m. South Sudan and Puerto Rico square off at 5:00 a.m.
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