Germany dominated Georgia, 100-73, to maintain their undefeated record in the 2023 FIBA World Cup on Friday at the Okinawa Arena in Japan.
The 11th-ranked team in the world secured the top spot in Group K in the second round, overtaking the also unbeaten Slovenia at the time of publishing.
“He’s just an unbelievable basketball player who has a tremendous passion for the game… How are we going to guard him? I thought we had a pretty good game plan last year in Eurobasket, but he had 44 (points) against us,” said Germany head coach Gordie Herbert when asked about facing Luka Doncic in Germany’s next match against Slovenia.
Although they were only up by two points, 47-45, early in the third quarter, Germany went on a 14-0 run in the third frame to extend their lead to 61-45, making a comeback for the Crusaders seem unlikely.
“I thought we came out and played a good second half,” Herbert said.
Germany had already shown signs of their ability to go on game-changing scoring runs in the first quarter. They had a 6-0 run from a 16-all tie with just over a minute left, ending the opening frame with a 22-16 advantage.
The lead continued to grow in the final quarter, with the Crusaders surrendering to Germany’s 27-point outburst, which ended the game with an exclamation point.
Maodo Lo led the German squad, which was missing Franz Wagner, with 18 points and five assists.
Dennis Schroder also made a significant contribution with 16 points and seven assists, while Moritz Wagner added 12 points and six rebounds.
On the other side, Alexander Mamukelashvili led the scoring for Georgia with 19 points, while Goga Bitadze and Tornike Shengelia contributed 15 and 12 points, respectively.
The victory left Georgia winless in four games against Germany in their Eurobasket and FIBA encounters. (Jose Gabriel Ignacio)
The Scores:
Germany 100 — Lo 18, Schroder 16, M.Wagner 14, Obst 12, Theimann 11, Theis 11, Bonga 9, Kramer 3, Hollatz 3, Giffey 3, Voigtmann 0.
Georgia 73 — Mamukelashvili 19, Bitadze 15, Shengelia 12, Shermandini 9, Sanadze 6, McFadden 5, Liklikadze 4, Andronikashvili 2, Berishvili 1, Tsintsadze 0, Jintcharadze 0
Quarterscores: 22-16, 43-41, 70-57, 100-73
