Latvia’s dream run continues as they advance to the last eight

JAKARTA (Indonesia) – Latvia more than convincingly signed up to be the first team from Group L to advance to the Quarter-Finals in a 104-84 affair against Brazil. The Baltic nation led for almost 17 minutes in the first half and even had a 10-point advantage, but you could hardly call the game one-sided as Brazil kept on pursuing them and were down by only 3 points at halftime.

tromoto nv

Arturs Zagars started it off with his magic in the pick-and-roll, then everyone joined in on the fun as Latvia scored 36 points in the third quarter putting on an offensive exhibition to pull away for a commanding 18-point lead at 81-63. It would be madness if they had kept it up for the remaining ten minutes, however, Latvia did their job in the fourth to slow down the tempo a bit and close out the game as victors.Andrejs Grazulis was as reliable on defense as he always has been, yet also contributed with 24 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds, all while making 11-of-15 shots from the field.

Yago Santos did his best to be Brazil’s offensive general, but his 14 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds just weren’t enough to get the job done.They’ve always been a three-point shooting nation and the proof is again in the pudding after today’s game. Latvians knocked down 16-of-33 shots from downtown, whereas Brazil only converted 7-of-24 long range shots.

Latvia have to be considered serious contenders after they have kept World Cup regulars Brazil and France outside of the Quarter-Finals. They now wait for the outcome of the game between Slovenia and Germany to determine their next opponent as they continue a fantastic rookie World Cup campaign. Despite the loss, Brazil are still very interested in Group L standings. If Spain manage to beat Canada, they could qualify for Paris 2024 thanks to their win against Canada on Friday. However, they also need to monitor what goes on between Dominican Republic and Serbia as they also need a win from the Serbs.

fiba.basketball

Share article

Latest articles