Spain defeated Australia 95-88 in the first semifinal game in the FIBA Basketball World Cup in Beijing on Friday, reaching the final of the tournament and waiting for winners of the match between France and Argentina. Marc Gasol shot down 33 points, the highest for Spain.

Both Spain and Australia refused to let the opponents enter the paint easily in the first quarter, which was why the two teams made nine attempts from the 3-point line. The game remained slow in Q1. Besides 3-pointers, the two sides chose very different ways in their offense.

The Boomers invested a lot in give-and-go, keeping exerting pressure on Spain's defense under the rim and abandoning the middle-range. By contrast, Spain focused on screen plays which led to many chances of perimeter shooting and floaters. After the first quarter, Spain led 22-21 thanks to a buzzer-beater from the 3-point line by Sergio Llull.

The Boomers increased ball pressure in the second quarter, disrupting Spain's offense orchestrating which had already been weakened without Ricky Rubio. Meanwhile, Australia's two big men, Aron Baynes and Andrew Bogut kept seizing space with force in the opponent's paint, creating more scoring opportunities for their teammates.

By contrast, Spain's only big man Marc Gasol did not seem to be in his best form and did not step into Australia's paint at all. Though his passing around the free-throw line was still impressive, lacking aggressiveness in his game enabled the Boomers to focused more on defending his teammates.

After a 16-10 in Q2, Australia regained the lead 37-32 in the first half.

Spain took a head-on blow in the third quarter as all of their players suddenly became freezingly cold with their shooting in the first seven minutes. Australia, one the other hand, took the opportunity of the opponents continuously bricking to drive stormy fast break, expanding the lead to double-digit once.

The good news for Spain was that Gasol began to find his touch in this quarter and got the right points. Moreover, the rest of the team grew warm in the last three minutes, narrowing the score difference down to four points (55-51).

Spain were trying to enhance ball pressure on the opponents, but their players paid too much attention to the perimeter Boomers, enabling Joe Ingles to find open teammates under the rim twice in a row to get four easy points. Fortunately, Spanish players remained hot as they increased more back-door cut in the offense. By contrast, Australia's most important weapon Mills started to feel run down. With less than four minutes to go, Spain narrowed the score difference down to two points (67-65).

Mills had the most dramatic three minutes. He first earned a 3-point foul and made all three free throws to help the Boomers lead by five points (70-65). Then in Australia's last attack, he again earned a foul by assaulting the rim but missed the second free throw, watching the game enter overtime 71-71.

The two teams exchanged lead in the first three minutes in the OT by scoring seven points each and then shared a one-minute scoring drought. Mills again earned and made two free throws in the last 15 seconds to help Australia lead 80-78. However, Gasol again dragged the game into the second OT, using precisely the same method.

Players of both sides almost reached the limit with their strength in the second OT, and that's when a calm, smart brain was needed. For Spain, that brain was Rubio. As perhaps the only who could still think rationally, he orchestrated the team's offense, found open teammates – Liull buried two 3-pointers – leading Spain to the final victory 95-88.