- Germany beat Team USA 113-111 in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 semifinal to book a spot in Sunday’s final
- For the second time in FIBA’s biggest event, there might be no medal at all for the Americans, who will play Canada for bronze on Sunday
Germany beat Team USA 113-111 in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 semifinal to book a spot in Sunday’s final. The European side remains the only unbeaten team in the FIBA Basketball World Cup following their victory over the United States on Friday.
Whereas Germany are on the cusp of a world title, there will be no gold medal for Team USA at this World Cup. And for the second time in FIBA’s biggest event of the year, there might be no medal at all for the Americans, who will play Canada for bronze on Sunday.
Team USA will face Canada for bronze. Photo/ CNN.
Andreas Obst and Frank Wagner played a massive role in Germany’s victory over the United States, scoring 24 and 22 points, respectively. Anthony Edwards scored 23 points for Team USA, which got 21 from Austin Reaves, 17 from Mikal Bridges and 15 from Jalen Brunson.
After a difficult third quarter, team USA tried to get closer but Germany had a response for all their attacks. Johannes Thiemann made a turnaround jumper to increase Germany’s lead to 12 points with 5:23 left to play. The score was 109-94 at the time.
Team USA put in the work and thanks to Anthony Edwards and Austin Reaves, they reduced the deficit to three points with 3:17 left. With 1:23 left, Team USA were trailing by a point.
However, things became more difficult for the Americans when Andreas Obst fired a 3-pointer and Schroder added a jumper to make the scores 113-107. With 40 second left, there was little that Team USA could do as Germany held on to secure a memorable 113-111 win.
Team USA have lost two games at a second consecutive World Cup and in those defeats, they broke the record for the most points it has allowed at an Olympics or worlds. They will be bidding to avoid losing three times at one major tournament for the first time since the 2004 Athens Olympics when they face Canada on Sunday.
Apart from Germany, they had already lost to Lithuania 104-110 in group play last Sunday. Following Team USA’s loss to Germany on Friday, coach Steve Kerr congratulated Germany and admitted it’s no longer easy to win the World Cup.
Germany beat Team USA to book a spot in the FIBA World Cup final to be played on Sunday. Photo/ CBS News.
“The game has been globalized over the last 30 years. These games are difficult. This is not 1992 anymore. Players are better all over the world. Teams are better. It’s not easy to win the World Cup or the Olympics. Congrats to Germany, they were fantastic and deserved the win. Every time we made a run, they had a big shot or got an offensive board and made a big play. They did what they had to do. I’m really proud of the guys, they were courageous throughout the game. But we just couldn’t get there.” BasketNews.com quotes Steve Kerr.
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