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Latvia celebrates after clinching a spot within the Fiba World Cup quarterfinals with a win over Brazil. -FIBA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines-Latvia’s fairytale trip confirmed no hint of slowing down after trampling on trophy contender Brazil, 104-84, on Sunday evening on the Indonesia Enviornment in Jakarta to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
With an unrecognized forged that saved on deflating the egos of nations powered by high-profile lineups, the Latvians wanted solely a colossal surge within the third quarter to ebook that airplane journey going to Manila for the pivotal knockout levels.
Andrejs Grazulis topscored with 24 factors, playmaker Arturs Zagars contributed 17 constructed on a trio of threes and several other incursions as world-ranked No. 29 Latvia gained 4 video games out of 5, highlighted unexpectedly victories over France and defending champion Spain.
Bruno Caboclo led Brazil with 20 factors and Yago Santos added 14, their bid to progress circling the drain after absorbing twin losses that wrapped up their marketing campaign after 5 video games.
Kristaps Porzingis of the Boston Celtics, certainly one of two NBA gamers that they’ve other than Oklahoma Thunder Davis Bertans, missed suiting up for the Latvians however celebrated with the crew on each recreation they traditionally conquered.
They collectively shut down the Brazilians whereas unloading a stunning scoring spree energized by Bertans and Kristers Zoriks for a fast double-digit benefit their rivals discovered no countermeasure.
Zoriks accomplished a four-point swing with a stepback three plus a foul from Lucas Dias, bumping the Latvians as much as 67-57 midway by the third.
Rolands Smits and Grazulis created extra separation with an assortment of key photographs and by the point Arturs Strautins nailed a fadeaway, they have been already comfortably forward by 18 going into the ultimate 10 minutes.
Showing on its first World Cup with no authentic star on the present roster, Latvia’s most deadly weapon is the power of various gamers to go off when wanted in every match, their solely defeat coming from Canada early on.
The Latvians eliminated France from the medal equation with a win within the preliminary group section and left No. 1 ranked Spain thunderstruck in a 74-69 victory two nights in the past.
Spain and France, each powerhouses of the worldwide recreation, went head on in final yr’s FIBA Euro Basket finals.
Latvia’s rival within the quarterfinals on the Mall of Asia Enviornment after Monday’s relaxation shall be decided following Spain’s make-or-break tiff with Canada within the different match.
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