Latvia celebrates after clinching a spot in the Fiba World Cup quarterfinals with a win over Brazil. -FIBA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines-Latvia’s fairytale ride showed no trace of slowing down after trampling on trophy contender Brazil, 104-84, on Sunday night at the Indonesia Arena in Jakarta to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
With an unrecognized cast that kept on deflating the egos of countries powered by high-profile lineups, the Latvians needed only a colossal surge in the third quarter to book that plane trip going to Manila for the pivotal knockout stages.
Andrejs Grazulis topscored with 24 points, playmaker Arturs Zagars contributed 17 built on a trio of threes and several incursions as world-ranked No. 29 Latvia won four games out of five, highlighted by surprise victories over France and defending champion Spain.
Bruno Caboclo led Brazil with 20 points and Yago Santos added 14, their bid to progress circling the drain after absorbing twin losses that wrapped up their campaign after five games.
Kristaps Porzingis of the Boston Celtics, one of two NBA players that they have apart from Oklahoma Thunder Davis Bertans, missed suiting up for the Latvians but celebrated with the team on every game they historically conquered.
They collectively shut down the Brazilians while unloading a dazzling scoring spree energized by Bertans and Kristers Zoriks for a quick double-digit advantage their rivals found no countermeasure.
Zoriks completed a four-point swing with a stepback three plus a foul from Lucas Dias, bumping the Latvians up to 67-57 halfway through the third.
Rolands Smits and Grazulis created more separation with an assortment of key shots and by the time Arturs Strautins nailed a fadeaway, they were already comfortably ahead by 18 going into the final 10 minutes.
Appearing on its first World Cup without a legitimate star on the current roster, Latvia’s most lethal weapon is the ability of different players to go off when needed in each match, their only defeat coming from Canada early on.
The Latvians removed France from the medal equation with a win in the initial group phase and left No. 1 ranked Spain thunderstruck in a 74-69 victory two nights ago.
Spain and France, both powerhouses of the international game, went head on in last year’s FIBA Euro Basket finals.
Latvia’s rival in the quarterfinals at the Mall of Asia Arena after Monday’s rest will be determined following Spain’s make-or-break tiff with Canada in the other match.