JAKARTA RAYA, INDONESIA — The Canadian men’s national team won their second game of the 2023 FIBA World Cup on Sunday afternoon, with a 128-73 trouncing of Lebanon.
Playing without Lu Dort, who sat the game out due to soreness, the Canadians rolled after a gritty start from Lebanon had the game tied at eight apiece.
Canada responded with a 10-0 run that included a dunk by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and a breakaway slam from RJ Barrett off a nifty half court bounce pass from Kelly Olynyk. Canada led 29-13 after one quarter, with great outputs by Trae Bell-Haynes (six points in the quarter) and Dwight Powell (seven points in the quarter).
The Canadians continued to expand their lead in the second quarter thanks to the three-point shooting of Bell-Haynes, who hit twice more from beyond in the second quarter. Canada took a 30-point lead, 51-21, on a Nickiel Alexander-Walker three-pointer with 4:40 remaining in the opening half, and took a commanding 66-30 lead at the break after Dillon Brooks beat the buzzer on a step back three-pointer.
Up by 48 midway through the third, RJ Barrett, who tallied a game-high 17 points on 7-for-12 shooting after making just one shot in 10 attempts against France, finished with a powerful windmill on a fast break, giving Canada their first 50-point lead of the game. The team eventually took a 60-point lead with eight minutes remaining in the contest on a Kyle Alexander layup and again with 2:35 remaining on a three-pointer by Melvin Ejim, who finished with 13 points.
The 55-point victory represented the second-consecutive impressive win for the Canadians, who defeated France in rather convincing fashion 95-65 in their opening game on August 25. The team also set a record for points in a game, surpassing the 126 scored against Jordan in the 2019 World Cup, a game which they also won by 55 points. The highest margin of victory for Canada all-time at the FIBA World Cup is a 90-point win over Malaysia, 128-38, in 1986. Canada also registered 44 assists against Lebanon, setting a new FIBA World Cup record, and shot 71 percent (50/70) from the field. On the flip side, Lebanon shot 48 percent (30/62).
Bell-Haynes’ 15 points were the second most for Canada on the day, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finishing with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists. Five others (Olynyk, Zach Edey, Alexander-Walker, Kyle Alexander, Dillon Brooks) scored in double figures. For Lebanon, former first round NBA draft choice Omari Spellman, who played one season each with the Atlanta Hawks (2018-2019) and Golden State Warriors (2019-2020), scored 16 points.
“We’ve been talking a lot about driving and kicking, moving the ball, sharing with each other and getting everybody involved and we were able to do that tonight,” Barrett told reporters after the victory.
Next up for Canada is a showdown with Latvia, who defeated Lebanon 109-70 on August 23, at 9:30 am eastern time on Tuesday, August 29.
“That will be the most important one,” said Barrett about Canada’s next contest. “Right now it’s just to make sure we finish off pool play right, and try and advance.”
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