Latvia continues its formidable journey in this 2023 World Cup since Luca Banchi’s men beat Brazil (104-84) to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the event!
Placed in the group of Canada and France, however, we did not expect the Baltic country to have such a party, especially with the package announced upstream of Kristaps Porzingis, then the injury of the captain, Dairis Bertans…
Except that buoyed by their great success against the Blues and then against Spain, the Latvian players offered themselves a real round of 16 against Brazil, since the winner would go on to reach the Top 8. And with his contagious energy, his circulation of ball and its shooting success, Latvia logically got the better of the Seleçao.
Bruno Caboclo’s faults hurt
Brazil had however managed to come back from -10 (32-22) in the second quarter, to finally count only one possession behind (45-42) at halftime. But Bruno Caboclo’s fourth foul at the start of the third quarter hurt Brazilian dreams very, very badly…
In the process, Davis Bertans, in difficulty until then, frees himself with several very complicated shots, and Kristers Zoriks imitates him to put Brazil back on the ropes. A 3+1 which increases the gap to +10 (67-57).
This time, Yago Santos and his teammates will not manage to pick up, unable to take advantage of their physical advantage inside, while the Latvian collective game broke the different defensive strategies.
Andrejs Grazulis (24 points, 5 assists) and his teammates will now have to wait for the result of Spain – Canada to know their place in the group. See you against Slovenia or Germany in the quarter…
Highlights and stats to come…
