Moritz Wagner of Germany dunks in the FIBA Basketball World Cup quarterfinals against Latvia at Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, the Philippines, September 6, 2023. /CFP
Germany edged Latvia 81-79 in the FIBA Basketball World Cup quarterfinals at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, the Philippines, on Wednesday, reaching the tournament's semifinals for the first time in team history.
Despite the loss, Lativia already have enough reasons to be proud of themselves, not only for the fact that they went this far into the quarterfinals in their first World Cup journey, but also because they were only one triple away from beating Germany.
As Latvia's ace, Davis Bertans shot 6-for-13 from downtown, scoring 20 points. His side couldn't have kept the game within one triple without his excellent shooting performance. Maybe there were other options in their final attack, but Bertans earned the right to take that shot in the early offense.
Arturs Zagars (#55) of Latvia shoots in the FIBA Basketball World Cup quarterfinals against Germany at Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, the Philippines, September 6, 2023. /CFP
Arturs Zagars dropped a court-high 24 points for Latvia. Not only did he drain four 3-pointers, he also kept charging the rim in the final three minutes in the fourth quarter, cutting the 10-point deficit to a chasable two points in the end.
By contrast, Dennis Schroder of Germany shot as many as 26 field goals (FGs), much more than anyone else in Wednesday's game, but only made four of them. He missed all of his eight triples and didn't score a single point until his 11th attempt in the third quarter.
Schroder's poor performance was why Germany struggled at the beginning of the game and couldn't extend their lead to a safe number during most of the time on Wednesday. Nonetheless, the return of Franz Wagner, who was injured 10 minutes into the team's first game against Japan in the World Cup and hadn't played since then, became the greatest boost to Germany.
Franz Wagner (#9) of Germany shoots in the FIBA Basketball World Cup quarterfinals against Latvia at Mall of Asia Arena in Manila, the Philippines, September 6, 2023. /CFP
Wagner went 5-for-8 from the field to get a team-high 16 points in Wednesday's game. He also matched Daniel Theis in grabbing the most rebounds (eight) for the team. Unlike Schroder, who has been one of the biggest defensive weak spots due to his size, 2.06-meter-tall, 102-kilogram-heavy Wagner could match most of Latvian players and was able to make solid layups despite physical contact with the defender.
Germany will face USA in the semifinals on Friday. Lativa will play Italy on Thursday to go for a better ranking in the tournament.
In the other game on Wednesday, Canada beat Slovenia 100-89 at Mall of Asia Arena. Canada will face Serbia in the semifinals on Friday. Slovenia will play Lithuania on Thursday.