Men’s Basketball

What: Senior Men’s National Team vs France

When: 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT

Where: Bercy Arena, Paris, France

Quarterfinals action

After closing out Group Phase action with an 88-85 victory over Spain, Canada remains undefeated in Paris with a 3-0 record. They also advanced to the quarterfinals where they will face host-team France on Tuesday. Canada advanced to the quarters behind a 20-point performance from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and an 18-point, 8-for-10 field goal effort from Andrew Nembhard, including eight points in the pivotal fourth quarter. Nembhard’s 18 points were the most he’s ever scored with the Senior Men’s National Team in a FIBA game. Gilgeous-Alexander is one of five players to top the 20-point threshold in multiple games during the Group Phase, along with teammate RJ Barrett.

Facing France

Canada will take on a France team that features Victor Wembanyama, this year’s NBA Rookie of the Year, as well as NBAers Rudy Gobert, Evan Fournier, Nicolas Batum and Bilal Coulibaly. France’s roster also features former NBAers Nando De Colo, Frank Ntilikina, and Guerschon Yabusele. Current Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson is an assistant on France’s coaching staff, assisting head coach Vincent Collet. France enters the quarterfinals with a 2-1 record, earning victories against Brazil and Japan before falling to Germany to close out Group Phase action. Wembanyama is leading France across the board, averaging 17.0 points, 10.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.7 steals and 2.0 blocks per game. Canada will be battling a solid France team in front of an arena that is sure to be packed and loudly cheering the home team on.

Defence getting it done

Through the Group Phase, Canada held opponents to 29.0% shooting from beyond the arc while forcing 15.0 turnovers. The Canadians have scored 22.3 points off turnovers per game and are leading Paris in opponent 3P% and in points off turnovers. Ther 22.3 points off turnovers through three games is on pace to be the second highest mark since the statistic was first tracked in 2004. Only the USA has averaged more, accomplishing the feat during London 2012. Canada’s starting lineup of Gilgeous-Alexander, Barrett, Dillon Brooks, Dwight Powell and Lu Dort have outscored their opponents by 39 points in 25 minutes played together through three games while holding opponents to 21.4 percent shooting from the floor.

Points on the board

RJ Barrett has been Canada’s leading scorer in Paris, averaging 21.0 points per game through the Group Phase. His 21-point average is the fourth highest among all players in the tournament. Barrett also has a 71.5 TS%, the highest of any player with at least 30 field goals attempted. Barrett is also averaging 4.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.0 steals in 27.7 minutes per game, second to only Gilgeous-Alexander who is averaging 27.9 minutes per contest.

Keeping tabs

‍Fans can catch all of the action from Paris 2024 live on CBC. In addition to TV broadcasts on CBC and partner networks TSN and Sportsnet, audiences will be able to watch live events daily on the free CBC Gem streaming service, CBC’s Paris 2024 website and the CBC Paris 2024 app for Android and iOS devices. The website and app will also house full event schedules, results, athlete bios and features, daily updates and more. Plus, exclusive coverage will be provided by CBC Sports including in-depth reports, highlights, digital series and on-demand replays of the biggest moments and events. Fans can also keep track of everything Canada Basketball by following @canadabasketball on instagram, @CanBball on Twitter, Canada Basketball on Facebook and @canbball on TikTok.