In an emphatic display, Latvia stamped its ticket to Manila for the quarterfinals of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup by crushing Brazil, 104-84, in the Indonesia Arena on Sunday, Sept. 3.
The bout for one of the two tickets of Group L en route to the Final Round was still tight at the first 1 ½ minute of the third frame until Davis Bertans, Arturs Zagars, and Andrejs Grazulis went unconscious offensively – waxing up Latvia’s 36-point rally to enter the final frame holding a commanding 81-63 lead.
The helpless Brazil squad wasn’t able to match the scoring fireworks of Latvia as the Kristaps Porzingis-less squad even built a 24-point advantage and ultimately sealed their first World Cup quarterfinal appearance in program history.
Grazulis poured a sizzling 24-point shootout for Latvia while shooting 11-of-15 from the field. Zagars chipped in with 17, while Bertans hit 14 with four treys.
Artus Kurucs churned a flawless 12-point output as well to aid his Latvian team, sinking four major treys.
The tournament debutant nation will wait for the winner between Canada and Spain later to determine their top two standing for Group L heading to the World Cup’s Final Round. As such, they are set to battle either Germany or Slovenia to open up their quarterfinal outing.
Bruno Caboclo’s 20 points paced the Brazillian squad that settled to a 3-2 card for the entire Group Phase round of the tourney.
