Host nation France eliminates Canada in Olympic men's basketball
France held off a second-half surge from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Canada to earn an 82-73 victory in the quarterfinal of the Olympic men's basketball tournament on Tuesday.
The host country will play undefeated Germany in Thursday's semifinal.
France surged to begin the game, holding Canada to just 10 first-quarter points. The French extended that lead to 19 in the opening seconds of the third quarter.
Canada battled back to cut the deficit to five with 2:14 remaining in the contest, but France's Evan Fournier scored five straight points to seal the contest in front of a packed house of home fans.
France's success came despite a poor offensive showing from superstar Victor Wembanyama, who contributed seven points on 2-of-10 shooting and 0-of-6 from deep. However, he grabbed 12 rebounds and added five assists, three steals, and a block.
In place of Wembanyama, Guerschon Yabusele led France with 22 points, while Isaia Cordinier scored 20. Though both were drafted in the NBA, neither has played in the league since 2019.
France only got three minutes out of four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, who said he had surgery on his left ring finger on Monday, according to USA Today's Jeff Zillgitt. French coach Vincent Collet had a different explanation for Gobert's diminished role, though:
France coach Vincent Collet said Rudy Gobert did not undergo surgery on injured finger before win over Canada and lineup changes were based on matchups
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) August 6, 2024
Canada again was led by NBA Most Valuable Player runner-up Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored a game-high 27 points. RJ Barrett was the only other Canadian to reach double figures, scoring 16 points.
"If you don't earn it, that's what happens: You lose," Gilgeous-Alexander told reporters postgame, including The Washington Post's Ben Golliver.
France's significant size advantage played a major role. Though Canada won the offensive rebounding and points-in-the-paint battles, the home team's physicality helped France get to the free-throw line 42 times compared to Canada's 25 attempts.
Because of the free-throw discrepancy, Canada took 18 more field goals than the French side but shot just 5-of-21 from 3-point range and had just 14 assists compared to 14 turnovers.
"Offensively, I thought it was our most selfish game. We didn't share the ball," Canada head coach Jordi Fernandez told reporters, including Sportsnet's Arash Madani.
Germany-France is a rematch from the group stage, where the Germans won 85-71 in a game they led by 24 in the second half. The other semifinal will feature Serbia against the winner of USA-Brazil.