China failed to pull off a miracle as they lost 86-73 to Nigeria in their last game in the FIBA Basketball World Cup in south China's Guangdong on Sunday night. As Iran claimed a big win over the Philippines 95-75 to qualify for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, China failed to capitalize on the opportunity on home soil.

China changed their starting backcourt pair to Fang Shuo, who is able to shoot from the 3-point line, and Sun Minghui, who's known for his defense skills. Fang was on fire in the first quarter, scoring three 3-pointers. Coach Li Nan also replaced Yi Jianlian with Wang Zhelin, who did well at protecting rebounds. Before he went to the bench, China were leading in rebounding 7-5.

China played the best Q1 in this World Cup thanks to better decisiveness and focus. In offense, perimeter players never hesitated to take open shots and everyone was vigilant for offensive rebounds. In defense, Chinese players were fast enough to double-team their Nigerian opponents who broke into the paint, forcing them to make uncomfortable passes and trying to steal the ball for transition attacks. Thanks to this, China managed to lead in Q1 21-19.

However, though Nigeria do not have a qualified orchestrator, their players had a clear knowledge of what their advantage is: athleticism. 

Josh Okogie kept launching assaults towards the rim to bruise China's defense. Nigeria also increased their ball pressure, which led to more steals to launch fast breaks. The team chose a long rotation by sending in total 11 players to the court, giving them an advantage in strength over China. After the second quarter, Nigeria was leading 35-31.

Yi Jianlian, China's No. 1 star, stood out in the third quarter to put down 14 points in the third quarter. The 32-year-old veteran did everything he could, one-on-one penetration, catch & shoot, and 3-pointers. He even managed to stop Nigeria's offense twice in switch defense. Nonetheless, Yi's efforts were wasted by his teammates who made too many mistakes including committing three offensive fouls. In the end, China had to watch their trail grow to nine points (60-51) before the last quarter.

Yi did not give up and started Q4 with 2+1 play though he missed the free throw. However, he continued to carry the team on his shoulder and ignited the court by breaking from the 3-point line to finish a dunk. Nonetheless, when Nigeria realized how dangerous Yi was and decided to put all of their defense on him, none of Yi's teammate was able to help him, until Fang and Abudushalamu Abudurexiti stood out to score.

Unfortunately, China's counterstrike came too late, not to mention that the team did not have enough strength to match Nigeria in defense. The team  eventually finished the World Cup at home with two wins and three losses.