FIBA World Cup: 2nd round taking shape; Day 3 takeaways
By Phil Watson
Spain escapes upset bid to advance in Group C
At Guangzhou, Puerto Rico had narrowly beaten Iran in its first game of the FIBA World Cup, while world No. 2 Spain cruised past Tunisia to start the festivities.
So imagine Spain’s surprise when Puerto Rico kept making shots and pulling out to leads in the early going.
Spain tied things at 7-7, Puerto Rico ran off five straight points. Spain took a 17-16 lead, Puerto Rico answered by closing the first quarter with five straight markers and a 21-17 advantage.
From there, Spain started to settle in, rallying for a 36-35 halftime lead before turning up the defensive heat in the second half and pulling away for a 73-63 win.
Puerto Rico had two major problems — not enough size inside and not enough secure hands outside. Spain forced 17 turnovers and also had a 40-24 edge in paint points, which was more than enough to get the win despite a poor shooting day.
Marc Gasol of the Toronto Raptors led the Spaniards with 19 points to go with seven rebounds and Ricky Rubio of the Phoenix Suns went for 17 points and a team-high eight boards. Rudy Fernandez dished out six assists.
Spain shot 39.7 percent (27-for-68) overall and was a ghastly 4-for-30 (13.3 percent) from 3-point range. Everyone not named Marc Gasol, in fact, was 2-for-27 from the great beyond.
But Puerto Rico couldn’t make shots, either. They finished just 37.1 percent overall (23-for-62) and made 6-of-20 (30 percent) from deep, with opening-game hero David Huertas held to just seven points.
Gian Clavell paced Puerto Rico with 13 points and Gary Browne had 11 points and five assists before fouling out.
In the opener, Tunisia got off to a fast start against Iran to win its first FIBA World Cup game in seven tries, leading by as much as 17 before taking down a 79-67 victory.
Tunisia went 0-5 in the 2010 FIBA World Cup (then known as the FIBA World Championships) and lost its opener to Spain by 39 points on Monday.
Now they will face Puerto Rico on Wednesday for a berth in the second round.
Salah Mejri, the only player from Tunisia to ever play in the NBA, was huge on Wednesday, finishing with 22 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks, going 5-for-9 from 3-point range in the process.
Makram Ben Romdhane added 15 points and four steals, as Tunisia forced 16 turnovers.
Aaron Geramipoor scored 18 points with eight rebounds for Iran, while Hamed Haddadi had 13 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
Tunisia shot 42.4 percent (28-for-66) overall, but was a solid 13-for-34 (38.2 percent) from 3-point range. Iran hit 45.8 percent (27-for-59) overall, but was only 4-for-15 (26.7 percent) from deep.
The showdown for the second spot from Group C will open play at 4:30 a.m. Eastern Wednesday, with Tunisia and Puerto Rico facing off. Spain takes on Iran at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.