Brazil made its debut in the second phase of the Basketball World Cup against the powerful Canadian team made up of NBA players in Jakarta, Indonesia, and in this Friday’s match (1), the team had an excellent defensive performance and won the match 69 to 65. Now, Brazil faces Latvia on Sunday (3), who beat Spain, and must beat Latvia to advance to the quarterfinals.

It was an unhelpful match for both sides, with Brazil being strong on defense and spending time on offense, to avoid transition plays from the equally strong Canadians on defense. The result was successful and Brazil gave Canada a lot of work and was capped off with a historic victory against a title favorite team.

Bruno Caboclo He was the best Brazilian player of the game with a double-double of 19 points and 13 rebounds. Gui Santos scored 10 points and yago scored eight points, the last four being decisive for the Brazilian victory. For Canada, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 23 points and Luguent Dort scored 17 points

The game

The Brazilian team, knowing that the challenge would be difficult, came into the match strong, playing a good defensive game and managing to nullify the Canadian players. Combined with Bruno Caboclo’s strong performance, Brazil finished the opening minutes with a 10-minute lead, winning 16-13.

In the second half, the Canadian team looked for options to escape the Brazilian marking and opened the advantage, while Brazil began to make many offensive errors. Bruno Caboclo quickly found himself with three fouls and without one of the main players of the match, spared in the second half, Brazil could not score much and saw Canada open a lead of 10 points – 37 at 27.

The third quarter was marked by the defensive strength of both teams, with the Canadians not letting Yago and Caboclo breathe, while Shai Gilgeous Alexander was no longer able to score easy baskets and the other Canadians were also unable to score . The difference started to narrow as the quarter progressed, but by the end of the quarter, Canada was able to put together its offensive moves and the match reached its final quarter with Brazil at a seven-point disadvantage – 52 to 45. Canada

In the final period, Brazil came onto the field strong and with good defensive and offensive performances, closed the gap and turned the game around, with Shai Gilgeous Alexander having to pull rabbits out of his hat for Canada regains the advantage. The match turned into a duel of defenses, with one team managing to nullify the other, and the game entered the final minutes completely undefined.

A referee error almost defined the game, when Canada’s possession reached 24 seconds and the referee ruled in favor of the Canadians, awarding another possession. But then Yago’s star shone. Marked throughout the match, the leader put in a great performance and with two decisive baskets, he gave Brazil a four-point lead with 26 seconds remaining. Despite Canada’s difficulties, Brazil managed to maintain the lead and win 69 to 65.

Next game

Brazil faces Latvia on Sunday (3) at 6:45 a.m., broadcast on ESPN channels on pay television and on Star+ in streaming