Japan’s Yuki Kawamura celebrates their victory in opposition to Finland after the FIBA Basketball World Cup group F match between Japan and Finland at Okinawa Area in Okinawa on August 27, 2023. (Picture by Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP)
Japan scored a breakthrough and have become the primary Asian nation to hitch the win column by handing Finland its second defeat, 98-88, on Sunday evening within the Fiba World Cup in Okinawa, Japan.
Naturalized energy ahead Joshua Hawkinson delivered a dominating efficiency with 28 factors and 19 rebounds in his 38 minutes of play for the Japanese, who bounced again from an 81-63 loss to the NBA’s Dennis Schroder and Germany.
Half of Hawkinson’s rating got here from the charity stripe the place he hit a near-perfect 14-of-15 clip.
Japan’s victory gave it a headstart within the race for Asia’s outright ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Philippines didn’t match that win after falling to Angola, 80-70.
📹 Japan’s unforgettable evening in Okinawa 🤩#FIBAWC x #WinForJapan 🇯🇵 I #AkatsukiJapan pic.twitter.com/8WQCG6RAk8
— FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 🏆 (@FIBAWC) August 27, 2023
Finland really led for almost all of the sport and had a 10-point benefit at halftime, 46-36. However Japan discovered increased high quality pictures within the second half and outscored its Group H rival within the final quarter, 35-15.
Regardless of having nearly the identical stats, the Japanese had quite a lot of assist from its bench who contributed a whopping 61 factors.
Finland had quite a lot of hassle defending and located itself fouling more often than not.
However a vivid spot within the Finnish’s sport was giving Phoenix Suns ahead Yuta Watanabe a tough time and limiting his scoring to a measly 4 factors on 1-of-6 taking pictures in his half-hour of play.
Yuki Kawamura added 25 factors and 9 assists for Japan whereas Makoto Hiejima and Keisei Tominaga chipped in 17 factors every.
Utah Jazz ahead Lauri Markannen was a silver lining for the Europeans, chipping in 27 factors and 12 rebounds whereas Mikael Jantunen scored 13 and Edon Maxhuni 12.
Each nations could have a day’s relaxation earlier than Japan battles Australia and Finland faces Germany on Tuesday.
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