Nothing went right for Canada on their home soil until the last 50 seconds of regulation against the Czech Republic. The heavily favored Canadian team featuring Golden State Warriors swingman Andrew Wiggins, New York Knicks PG RJ Barrett, and six other NBA talents bowed out of Olympic qualifying in a 103-101 OT loss to the Czech Republic.
The first half went against the expected script with the Czechs dominating the game on both ends and taking a surprising 8-point lead into the break. Chicago Bulls guard Tomas Satoransky and French League pro Blake Schilb led the way in both halves, as it was all comfortable for the underdogs until under a minute left in regulation.
The game and all hopes of an Olympic berth felt over for Canada as they trailed 92-82 with 57 seconds left. From there, a wild sequence of turnovers by the Czechs was capped off by six straight points for Wiggins, including the game-tying three with 17 seconds left, as the Canadians forced an improbable overtime session.
Andrew Wiggins’ game-tying 3 moments ago to keep Canada’s Olympic hopes alive pic.twitter.com/G9m0C2BMkG
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) July 3, 2021
While the momentum carried over for the first few minutes of OT and helped Canada build a five-point lead, Satoransky got the last laugh with an off-glass gamer over Lu Dort:
🚨@satoransky knocks down the game-winner to send Czech Republic to the #FIBAOQT Final!pic.twitter.com/lzTsIi9frY
— NBA (@NBA) July 3, 2021
A gorgeous set play from Canadian head coach/Toronto Raptors head coach Nick Nurse got Trey Lyles a wide open look from 15 feet, but it rimmed out at the buzzer.
Schilb led all scorers with 31 points for the Czechs while Wiggins poured in 22 points and Barrett added 23 for Canada. The Czech Republic advance to take on the winner of Turkey-Greece with the winner heading to the Olympics in Tokyo.
