MANILA, Philippines — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was true to form. So were Dillon Brooks and Luka Dončić, in all the ways you can picture.
While stars shined and tempers flared Wednesday evening in Manila, Canada’s dream basketball summer rolled on, and there is only one last step to take for its first FIBA World Cup finals appearance.
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Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points and controlled the tempo of the game, Brooks and Dončić were both ejected to the dismay of the crowd and the Canadians outlasted Slovenia, 100-89, in a World Cup quarterfinal.
Canada will play Serbia at 4:45 a.m. ET on Friday in one semifinal. Team USA will play Germany in the other semifinal Friday, following the Germans’ narrow 81-79 win over Latvia on Wednesday.
“Congrats to these guys, they just made history,” Canada coach Jordi Fernandez said, noting that this is the farthest the program has ever gone in World Cup play.
If Canada, with seven NBA players, including one star in Gilgeous-Alexander, and Team USA, with 12 NBA players, both take care of business Friday, we could be in for a U.S.-Canada showdown for the World Cup.
“Canada has a hell of a team,” Slovenia coach Aleksander Sekulić said. “They can play different lineups, small ball and two bigs. They have big guards, strong guards. They have guys who can create. So they have everything they need to go all the way. I think they can match up with (the) United States.”
Dončić, widely considered the best player at the World Cup who entered play Wednesday leading the tournament in scoring, finished with 26 points (basically his average), four rebounds and five assists, but shot 8-of-20.
Brooks was in his face for most of the night, checking Dončić with his body, playing a hand in Dončić shooting just 4-of-14 on 2-point ties.
They were both ejected on their second technicals of the evening in the fourth quarter. Brooks seemed to taunt his opponent after a made 3 with 7:06 left, which drew the whistle. Dončić was out of the game about 30 seconds later, after complaining about a non-call following another missed shot.
Both of Dončić’s technicals were for arguing, and the FIBA officials — who are typically more sensitive than their NBA counterparts — let a lot go from Dončić’s in between the techs.
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“It’s a lot of emotions,” Dončić said. “A lot of times, I don’t control myself, which I’ve been having problems with.”
Dončić then said a referee told a Slovenian teammate that he would not be getting foul calls because he was initiating contact.
“I think this is not fair,” Dončić said. “I know I complain a lot, but this is, I don’t think it’s fair. (Brooks was) playing very physical with me. But if you say that it’s not fair.”
Sekulić came to his star player’s defense, extending his own press conference to expand on what Dončić said without being asked.
“It’s difficult to play a game when you’ve got hit constantly all game long,” he said. “It’s difficult to control the emotions and we work a lot on this, but it’s very difficult and he has the ball a lot in his hands. It’s frustrating for Luka.
“I know it’s not great. It doesn’t look good, but, it’s very, very difficult and that’s why it makes him, makes Luka so special – because he’s a great player and it’s tough to guard him in a legal way.”
Brooks, who finished with 14 points, was booed virtually every time he touched the ball and also when his name was announced. You could say his reputation as an NBA villain travels, but there is perhaps a specific reason for the negativity he drew.
Filipinos are, by and large, Los Angeles Lakers fans, and Brooks’ reputation grew substantially for his behavior in a first-round playoff series against LeBron James and the Lakers in April. Brooks blew a kiss to the booing fans after he drained his first 3, and did it again after the second.
Not to belabor a point, especially on a night when so many other Canadian players performed brilliantly and stayed in the game, but Brooks is arguably the team’s best defender. He’s had an excellent World Cup, but, his emotions run the hottest when the stakes are highest, i.e. calling LeBron “old” in the middle of a playoff series.
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“He has to be better,” Fernandez said. “We need him on the court. He cannot get disqualified. We have to have better composure as a team after that. I think he’s the best defender with Lou (Dort), the best perimeter defender in this competition. I think today it was a defensive clinic of leading with his chest, showing his hands, pressuring full court.”
Gilgeous-Alexander continued his stellar tournament, shooting 8-of-12 overall and converting 14-of-16 free throws, with 10 rebounds and four assists. The Slovenians had cut a 16-point deficit when Doncic was gone to nine with about 3:20 left, but a runner off the glass and two foul shots from SGA stalled the rally.
RJ Barrett added 24 points and nine rebounds for Canada, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker contributed 14 points off the bench. The game was tied at 50-50 at halftime.
“Everybody sees Shai’s points, which is good … but he led the game in rebounding,” Fernandez said. “He dominated the game at playmaking, scoring, and finishing possessions and offensive rebounds. He also led our team in offensive rebounds. So I think that is even more impressive. You think about it, but it is not just Shai, that’s his job. His job is to defend, play make and score. Everybody else has a job on this team. … this team is relentless. And we’ve shown it in Jakarta and we’re showing it here too.”
In the other quarterfinal Wednesday, Germany survived a 4-of-26 shooting performance from Dennis Schroder, as well as a would-be game-winning 3-point try from Davis Bertans that banged off the rim just before time expired.
Germany received 16 points and eight rebounds from Franz Wagner, who had missed the last few games due to injury. The Germans’ win sets up a rematch with the U.S. from the exhibition season, in Abu Dhabi, in which the Americans overcame a 16-point deficit to win 99-91.
“I just beat Latvia, Germany is in the semifinal of the World Cup, don’t ask me about the USA,” said Moritz Wagner, of the Orlando Magic, who scored 12 points for Germany. “I’m going to enjoy this win and I’m going to think about the USA tomorrow.”
Bertans scored 20 for Latvia.
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(Photo: Ezra Acayan / Getty Images)