LILLE, France (July 30, 2024) – The Canadian Senior Men’s National Team defeated Australia 93-83 to move to 2-0 in the Group Phase at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on Tuesday.

This is the seventh time that Canada’s Senior Men’s National Team has begun an Olympic Games with a 2-0 record, and the win moved Canada to 4-0 against Australia all-time at the Olympic Games.

RJ Barrett led all scorers with 24 points in the victory. He shot 8-for-14 from the floor and added seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. His 24 points were the most by a Canadian at the Olympic Men’s basketball tournament since Steve Nash had 26 points in 2000. 

“That guy, sometimes I don’t call plays for him, and he just scores,” Team Canada head coach Jordi Fernández said. “That’s what he does. He’s been unbelievable.”

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander overcame early foul trouble to finish with 16 points on 8-for-10 field goals, adding four rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocked shots in 26 minutes, while Dillon Brooks scored 16 points. Lu Dort added 11 points while playing stellar defence in the second half as Canada pulled away.

Josh Giddey led Australia with 19 points, while Jock Landale finished with a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double in the loss.

“Josh was very, very good in that first half,” Fernández said. “I think Lu took the assignment, and he executed our defence. Not just by himself, but as you can tell, he is extremely physical. If you’re bringing the ball up the court, you don’t want to face that guy.”

After Gilgeous-Alexander picked up his second foul just 1:44 minutes into the game, he sat for the rest of the quarter, and Canada trailed 28-26 after the opening 10 minutes of play. Australia maintained its lead in the second quarter, as a floater from Giddey with seven seconds remaining gave Australia a four-point advantage, 49-45, at the half. 

“I wasn’t happy with our physicality in the first half,” Fernández said. “We have to put four quarters together. It wasn’t perfect, but at the end of the day, in the game of basketball, there are a lot of imperfections; you have to fight through it. We had a lot of players helping the team. That’s how you’ve got to be. You’ve got to be selfless. The team is first. And those guys were truly happy for the win. They were not thinking of themselves.”

Dort took the challenge of slowing Giddey in the second half and was successful, holding the Australian guard to just four points in the second after a 15-point first half.

“Lu was a definite game-changer for us,” Brooks said. “ We found a way to get rebounds and stops consecutively. Overall, we were making plays for each other, making shots, RJ’s having a tremendous tournament, shaping it all. And we got guys coming up the bench ready to play, [Andrew] Nembhard, Khem [Birch]. So we got to continue that, anybody's ready to play, and that second half, we stayed poised, stayed together. And the chemistry showed.”

Canada’s defensive pressure in the second half helped to force Australia into 18 turnovers in the game, while Canada had 11 miscues of their own. Canada held a 28-10 advantage in points scored off turnovers.

"I think we came back with a purpose in the third quarter," Fernández said. "We did a great job, 22 deflections in the second half, only 16 points in the paint allowed and that ignited our offence. The way we ran the floor, we scored a lot off of their turnovers. It starts with the defence.”

The Canadians pulled away in the third, but Australia battled back. A three-pointer from Jack McVeigh with two seconds remaining in the quarter brought Australia within two, 72-70, heading into the fourth.

Canada opened the fourth on an 11-2 run, outscoring Australia 21-13 in the final quarter. After a three-pointer from Barrett and a jumper from Jamal Murray, Canada led 83-72 with 4:29 remaining.

A three from Dante Exum brought Australia back within eight, but Khem Birch responded with a layup. After a three-point play from Landale, again it was Birch who scored inside to keep Canada in front by nine, 87-78, with 3:15 remaining. A Gilgeous-Alexander to Powell alley-oop put Canada up 11 with 1:04 remaining, and Canada went on to the victory from there.

Canada finished the game shooting 51 percent compared to 48 percent shooting from Australia. This came after Canada gave up 57 percent shooting to the Australians in the first half while making just 47 percent of their own field goals through the first 24 minutes. 

“The resiliency and how relentless this group is [was the difference],” Fernández said. “The way they fought in the second half, Lu Dort was amazing. Dillon was amazing. I think Khem Birch gave us great minutes, Dwight [Powell]with nine rebounds. It was a great team effort. It wasn’t perfect, but for game two, we’re still growing, and we’re about to face one of the best programs in the world.”

Canada will face No. 2 ranked Spain on Friday, Aug. 2 at 11:15 a.m. ET/8:15 a.m. PT. 

“They have a lot of experience,” Fernández said. “They’re a group that has played together a long time. They know every single trick. They showed it today. Obviously, we will be ready. We’re excited to play them. We’re up for the challenge. Today, after we get a little bit of rest, we’re going to lock in on Spain. With all of that respect, we’re going to give our best effort to them.”