Lu Dort celebrated his first game in Quebec City by scoring 25 points, and his Atlanta Hawks' teammate Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 26 to lead Canada to an impressive 97-92 victory over Argentina in FIBA men's basketball World Cup 2027 Americas Qualifier action on Monday night.
More than 13,000 fans watched the action inside the Videotron Centre.
Canada, fifth in the FIBA world rankings, is undefeated in eight games, and will play Uruguay in the South American country on Nov. 26 before their rematch in Argentina three days later.
The top three teams in the two remaining America groups will qualify for the 2027 FIBA World Cup in Qatar, while the best fourth-place finisher will also qualify for a trip to Doha.
Lost in the game was the superb performance of Argentina's Nicolas Laprovittola who scored 31 points. The only other Argentina player in double digits scoring was Nicolas Brussino with 11 points.
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However, the evening belonged to Dort. The Montreal native scored the first points of the game with a three-pointer that got the crowd going. In fact, Canada held a 13-6 lead early in the first quarter but Argentina fought back, then outscored the Canadians 13-1 in a span of two minutes and 17 seconds in the first quarter. The eighth-ranked Argentina led 29-23 after the first quarter.
The South American team even took a 17-point lead 95 seconds into the second quarter, when they stormed ahead 40-23. They took advantage of having Dort sitting on the bench after being in foul trouble. All that changed shortly before the half, as Canada cut the lead to 53-48 after the first half.
"We put ourselves behind the eight ball," said Canada's head coach Gordie Herbert. "The important thing was to cut the lead to single digits before halftime, and credit to our players, that's what they did."
It was a more aggressive and physical Canadian team that came out for the third quarter, outscoring Argentina 25-16, led by veteran Kelly Olynyk, whose play under the basket was a key for the home side the third quarter.
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In the final 10 minutes, it was Alexander-Walker who took charge, leading Canada toward victory.
Playing in his first game since the NBA playoffs, Dort felt rusty after a few minutes.
"However, I regained my legs later in the game. I haven't played a competitive game since the [NBA] playoffs, but I took care of my health this summer, and felt ready to go," Dort told reporters after the game.
