FIBA World Cup 2023: Canada cruise past Lebanon 128-73 setting a new assist record
RJ Barrett starred with 17 points as a balanced Canada set a new FIBA World Cup record with 44 assists.
Basketball
Canada continued its 2023 FIBA World Cup romp with a record-setting 128*-*73 victory over Lebanon to go 2-0 in the tournament in Jakarta, Indonesia on Sunday (27 August).
RJ Barrett led all scorers with 17 points and three assists, Trae Bell-Haynes scored 15 points and eight assists, Melvin Ejim contributed 13 points and Zach Edey, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Kelly Olynyk all added 12 points each in what was a World Cup team performance for the ages.
With a combined 44 assists, the Canadians set a new FIBA World Cup record, surpassing the previous mark of 37 shared between Canada and Serbia set in 2019.
A tight opening five minutes was all it took to get the Canadians into gear. Sitting 8-8, after exchanging buckets with Lebanon, Canada then went on an eight-point run to leap ahead 18-8.
The charge continued from there, with the Canadians able to hold Lebanon to just 13 points as they raced ahead to 29 at the close of the opening frame.
Just as it had done against France, Canada's defence once more proved menacing as it continued to work throughout the game to shut down Lebanon's offence. Their 22 turnovers paired with Canada's combined 13 steals meant there was no foothold for the Lebanese to get back into the game.
And with Canada deftly sharing the scoring load amongst them - nine players in double digits - there was little Lebanon could do to stop the victory unfolding in front of them. Canada made 100 points by the end of the third quarter.
Jordi Fernandez on Canada win: "Sharing is caring"
"I'm just super excited we kept our momentum from France. We talked about making sure there wasn't any fall off and keeping the momentum going and I think we did a good job," Bell-Haynes said after the game.
"The guys' confidence was high and you could see that everybody was playing confident and playing free. So, just happy we kept that going and hopefully we can continue to do that."
Coach Jordi Fernandez added:
"We played together, we shared the basketball and I think you guys saw it. 43 assists to 15 turnovers is a record in a World Cup.
"It just shows that sharing is caring and these guys were ready to play the right way, play with the pass. And in games like this, sometimes, teams have the tendency to have players that do it on their own and try to dribble too much and I'm proud of these guys, they did it the right way."