Rockets' Dillon Brooks Ejected, But Canada Beats Slovenia in FIBA World Cup Quarterfinal
MANILA, Philippines — Houston Rockets forward Dillon Brooks and Canada is off to the semifinals after a 100-89 win against Luka Doncic and Slovenia on Wednesday in the FIBA World Cup quarterfinals.
It was a tightly contested match for all of the opening half, with no team managing to achieve a double-figure lead at any point. The most either team led by was just four points as each side managed to do so. There was a staggering total of 18 lead changes and six ties in the first half.
Canada's defensive approach was more emblematic of Germany's strategy of switching against Doncic to make him have to break a defender down off the dribble, as opposed to Australia's approach of blitzing and double-teaming Doncic — enabling him to hit the short-roller with a pass to enable his teammates to play out of a 4-on-3.
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The game was tied at 50 by halftime, but Canada used a run to take a seven-point lead after Brooks knocked down an open catch-and-shoot 3. It became a nine-point edge when Klemen Prepelic threw away a pass after leaving his feat, giving Canada a wide open breakaway dunk. A slew of mistakes from Slovenia's role players were instrumental in Canada reaching a 14-point lead midway through the period.
After Canada had established its double-figure lead, the defensive strategy became more aggressive to pick up Doncic full-court and double-team in the half-court to get the ball out of his hands. It was clear that Canada had felt it had Slovenia right where it wanted it — resulting in a more aggressive approach in an attempt to seal a victory.
Slovenia had converted numerous 3-point attempts to prevent Canada from completely breaking the game open, but Canada often fired back with a make of its own — preventing Doncic's squad from cutting into the deficit in a meaningful way for the remainder of the period.
There was some meaningful movement in Slovenia's favor to end the third period. A made step-back 3 from Doncic with less than a minute left in the third quarter cut Canada's lead to 11, then a pair of made free throws from Prepelic made it a single-figure game. Entering the fourth quarter, Canada led 80-71.
Slovenia had proven unable to rally back in the fourth quarter with Canada continuing to have timely answers. With 7:06 remaining in regulation, Slovenia found itself trailing 92-76. Doncic and Brooks were ejected shortly after receiving a second technical foul with 6:37 remaining in regulation.
Without Doncic in the mix, Slovenia managed to make it a single-figure game with around four minutes remaining in regulation, but the late rally ultimately proved unsuccessful.
After the loss, Slovenia will now compete against Lithuania; Canada will advance and will face off against Serbia.
