In a highly entertaining and competitive game, Canada’s senior men’s national team came from behind, forced overtime and defeated a super talented Germany team 113-112 in overtime to win the 2023 DBB Supercup in Hamburg.
Facing a daunting 12-point deficit, after both teams exchanged blows and shot the light outs for a combined 71 points in an exciting three-quarter, Trae Bell-Hynes raced down the court and electrified the arena with a buzzer-beating three-pointer to reduce the lead to nine points.
With one minute and ten seconds left in regulation and trailing by five (101-96), RJ Barrett took control and exhibited remarkable resilience by securing two contested baskets to level the score at 101 apiece, forcing the game into overtime.
In the extra session, Germany quickly grabbed the lead with a three-pointer from Maodo Lo, but Canada responded with clutch baskets from Kelly Olynyk, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Barrett to help the Canadians pull out the thrilling one-point victory and snap a two game (82-76, 86-81) losing skid to the Germans dating back to the 2019 FIBA World Cup.
Barrett’s extraordinary performance proved pivotal as he dominated the court with a game-high 31 points on a near-perfect shooting display, boasting an impressive 13-of-14 from the field, 9-of-10 from the free-throw line, and a flawless 4-of-4 from beyond the arc, all accomplished within a 35-minute span.
RJ Barrett 31 points vs Germany 2023 DBB Supercup Finals
Gilgeous-Alexander fought off a slow start and poured in 20 second-half points to finish with 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists in 34 minutes.
Forced to bench with two early fouls in the first two minutes of the game, Olynyk responded with 21 points, four rebounds on 6-of-11 shooting.
Other notably contributions included, Luguentz Dort with nine points, six rebounds and a team-high 32 minutes off the bench. Dillon Brooks added eight points, three rebounds and two assists in 26 minutes.
Veterans Kyle Alexander and Melvin Ejim also helped out in the scoring column with six and five points off the bench.
Both teams valued possession and played a clean game, Canada turned the ball over just seven times. In contrast, Germany coughed it up 13 times, resulting in 22 points from turnovers for Team Canada.
The Canadians converted an impressive 50% percent of their shot attempts into points (39-of-78), including 41% percent from three-pointers (12-of-29) and 72% from the foul line (23-of-32).
Germany concluded with a 44% percent success rate from the field (32-of-73), burying 16-of-48 triples, and held a slight edge over Canada at the charity stripe, connecting on 32-of-36 free-throw attempts.
The Toronto Raptors’ point guard, Dennis Schröder, posed a formidable threat, amassing a game-high 26 points, eight assists, and three rebounds. However, Schröder’s impact was curtailed as he fouled out and missed the crucial final six minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime.
Franz Wagner contributed significantly with 18 points, six rebounds, and four assists, while Daniel Theis garnered 16 points and two rebounds before being shutdown due to a strained leg muscle.
Andreas Obst chipped in 12 points, making 3-of-8 three-pointers. Maodo Lo finished with 11 points and Johannes Thiemann banged his way to 10 points, six rebounds and three assists off the bench.
Canada (2-1) will now travel to Granada, Spain for a two-game series (August 17-18) against a tough Spanish side that is currently ranked No. 1 in the world by FIBA and a tilt against an improved Dominican Republic team that finished second behind Canada in the FIBA World Cup Americas Qualifiers with a 9-3 record.
