Vincent Collet had promised changes on the French side, and there are three in the starting five! Exit Evan Fournier and Rudy Gobert and make way for Isaïa Cordinier and Guerschon Yabusele alongside Nicolas Batum, Victor Wembanyama and Frank Ntilikina, who for his part recovers the point guard position.
Guerschon Yabusele scores his first 3-pointer and the energy of the Blues is totally different from what we saw in the group stages. The defensive duels are held, the interceptions follow one another and Isaïa Cordinier sanctions in first intention. Jamal Murray even takes an unsportsmanlike while the Blues take off.
+16 at halftime
It was only 2 minutes 45 minutes from the end of the first quarter that Evan Fournier joined the field, while France was at +14 (19-5). Victor Wembanyama was still struggling to anchor his positions to receive the ball well but he was sprawling on the rest and, on an alley-oop from Evan Fournier to Mathias Lessort, the Blues concluded the first quarter at +13 (23-10) in an Arena Bercy that was starting to seriously believe in it…
It must be said that if “Wemby” takes his second foul too quickly, and that the tricolor offensive euphoria has clearly calmed down, the Blues make the effort to go for free throws. Rudy Gobert makes his first appearance of the match at 7 minutes 41 of the half-time, and the match is marked by an avalanche of fouls.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, however, has no intention of letting the game slip away, and he takes matters into his own hands, in his characteristic style. The Thunder star scores 12 straight points on 4-of-4 shooting for his team.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander alone
But the Blues do not fall apart. With several 3-pointers and still provoking fouls, they reach halftime at +16 (45-29) against groggy Canadians, who certainly did not expect this level of intensity.
Dillon Brooks starts the second half by taking his 3rd foul and Isaïa Cordinier continues his festival from afar. The Virtus Bologna player is already at 16 points, at 4/5 from afar. Guerschon Yabusele goes for a dunk while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander loses two consecutive balls against the overloaded French racket.
The problem is that the Canadian defensive pressure is seriously slowing down the tricolor attack, and that “SGA” is seriously strong. He is already at 22 points, and Canada is only at 8 points (54-46). Timeout for Vincent Collet who must find solutions to give his team some momentum again.
But the rebounds are now Canadian. Victor Wembanyama (finally) scores his first basket and France remains at +11 (61-50) at the end of the third quarter, behind the activity of Mathias Lessort. They will have to hold on…
Evan Fournier's incredible shot
Jordi Fernandez gets annoyed by the refereeing decisions while RJ Barrett wakes up from afar. The momentum is turning for Canada but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander lets two free throws slip away on the way. And Isaia Cordinier who takes the baseline. Nicolas Batum against even the Thunder star and France still holds.
Canada takes a timeout while the Blues still lead by +10 (65-55) following a basket by Guerschon Yabusele.
But Dillon Brooks then RJ Barrett scored and Vincent Collet had to stop the game in turn, the gap having been reduced to five points (65-60) with four minutes to go. It was Evan Fournier who got the Blues back on track with a 3-pointer, then a floater, despite the forceful passage in the process.
Canada is forced to take risks to steal balls and Evan Fournier ensures the free throws. Jamal Murray loses another ball and Evan Fournier scores a huge 3-pointer that puts France back at +10 (76-66) in the last minute. The Blues did it, they win and join Germany in the semi-finals of their Olympics!
