Stars Propel Canadian Men’s Basketball Team to Victory in Highly Anticipated Return to the Olympics

After a long-awaited return to the Olympics, the Canadian Men’s Basketball Team beat Greece 86-79, and won at the Games for the first time since September 30th, 2000.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander came up clutch as Team Canada survived Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 34-point performance and Team Greece’s late comeback attempts.

Greece stays competitive, but Canada inches by in opener

In a matchup of NBA MVP contenders Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Team Greece took on Team Canada in the second game of group play in this year’s ‘Group of Death’ — which includes Australia and Spain, alongside Greece and Canada.

In what was essentially a road playoff game environment for Team Canada, the Northern Stars shined bright in their return to the Olympics. Flexing their offensive depth against a less skilled Greek team while applying consistent full-court on-ball pressure throughout the contest, the Canadians led by 10 points for most of the game.

Gilgeous-Alexander and RJ Barrett led the scoring for Team Canada, making some of the game’s most crucial points and plays in the clutch. SGA had 21 points and added 7 assists, while Barrett had 23 points on 62% shooting. Dillon Brooks added 14 points with 3 three-pointers made, and Jamal Murray had 8 points and 3 assists in a more limited role off the bench.

Brooks and Lu Dort were often the ones matched up one-on-one with Giannis on the defensive side. With five fouls leading to an ejection under FIBA rules, both were sidelined at different points due to foul concerns and eventually fouled out of the game.

Despite Giannis’s numbers, Dort and Brooks were crucial in slowing down Greece’s offense, which became evident when they were not on the floor. Team Greece found success early in the game with their three-point shooting, getting comfortable looks from deep with their big men while Giannis drew much attention. Canada made adjustments throughout the game and significantly slowed down Greece’s three-point shooting, ending the game with Greece shooting 28% from deep.

However, with two-time MVP and NBA champion Giannis Antetokounmpo on their side, Team Greece always had life, and Canada was never comfortable, especially in the fourth quarter after Brooks and Dort fouled out with under 3 minutes remaining.

Canada went into the fourth quarter with a 68-60 lead. Runs from both sides late in the game led to an 80-76 Canada advantage with just over a minute remaining. Team Canada had a sloppy turnover resulting in an easy Giannis slam, reducing their lead to 2 points. It was time for Canada’s stars to shine, and they did just that. On the ensuing possession, Gilgeous-Alexander let the shot clock get down to five seconds before starting his drive to the bucket, getting past a Greek defender, and knocking down a floater high off the glass to increase Canada’s lead to four points with 42 seconds left.

Team Canada then came up with a clutch defensive stop, and RJ Barrett slammed home the game-sealing dunk on the break to secure the victory.

SGA’s Clutch Gene on Display

If SGA wasn’t Team Canada’s best player, he was their most reliable and certainly most clutch against Team Greece in this Olympic opener. Going into the Olympic tournament, it was clear that Shai was Canada’s strongest offensive player. After today’s game, he left no doubt about his status and his role as the team’s closer.

We have seen his ability to take over and close out games in the NBA last season and throughout the 2024 NBA playoffs as he was part of one of the youngest teams to ever be a one-seed and then win a series. There is no doubt after today that Shai has the capability to close out FIBA games in the clutch and take over when this team needs it the most.

Shai’s floater to put Canada up by 4 after the highly emotional fourth quarter was symbolic of what he can do for this team throughout the rest of the tournament, which is to bring games home. He is one of the best in the world at getting a bucket over any defender, and Team Canada will certainly need that as the tournament continues.

Can Canada Defend Without Fouling?

In the game against Greece, Team Canada had three out of their five starters foul out. This is not a recipe for success against the world’s best competition.

Dwight Powell, Lu Dort, and Dillon Brooks all fouled out with a significant amount of game time left in the fourth quarter. It is a testament to Canada’s depth and the work of Head Coach Jordi Fernandez that they were still able to come away with the win.

It is not easy to defend such a big, dynamic scorer in Giannis, but if Canada is going to go on a run in this tournament, they need to figure out how to defend aggressively without fouling. It will be difficult to succeed at the Olympics if a starter or two gets fouled out of every game.

Implications of Today’s Win over Team Greece

In a tournament where round one consists of only three games in a round-robin style, every game is crucial. This is especially true for Team Canada as they are in the deepest and best group in the entire Olympic tournament.

Group A, on top of Canada, includes two top 5 teams in FIBA’s world rankings, Spain and Australia, and of course, Greece with one of the world’s best players in Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The first game of Group A saw Australia beat Spain 92-80. Australia and Canada face off in their next group game this Tuesday at 7:30 AM in a matchup that may decide Group A’s number one seed.

Furthermore, Team Canada made sure their return to the Olympic Games was memorable as they held off Greece’s comeback attempts. With the clutch play of SGA, the offensive excellence of RJ Barrett and Dillon Brooks, timely shots from Jamal Murray, Lu Dort, and Andrew Nembhard, and the overall defensive performance, Team Canada secured a much-needed victory in game one on their road to gold at the Paris Olympic Games.

The Canadian Men’s next game will be Tuesday at 7:30AM ET, while the Canadian women kick off their Olympic run Monday at 11:15am ET.