After suffering a surprising loss Wednesday in the opening game of the 2013 Eurobasket against Germany, the French National team returned to form on Thursday as they defeated Great Britain by a whopping 23-points.
Meanwhile, Italy moved to 2-0 at the Eurobasket with a 15-point win and Canada continued its dominance in the FIBA Americas championship with a 22-point win over Mexico to begin Phase 2.
In France's 88-65 win over Great Britain, San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker scored 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting while adding 5 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals in 24 minutes. His Spurs teammate Nando De Colo added 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting, along with 2 steals in 20 minutes for Les Bleus. In 21 minutes, Boris Diaw finished with 4 points and 3 assists. Portland Trail Blazers forward Nicolas Batum was France's leading scorer with 17 points.
The video below provides footage of some of France's highlights on their way to the win over Great Britain.
The Italian National team moved to 2-0 with a 90-75 victory over Turkey. In his 25 minutes, Spurs guard Marco Belinelli finished with 21 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Belinelli also added 2 assists and 2 rebounds in Italy's win. Check out one of Belinelli's two assists which was labeled 'the assist of the game.'
Below are the highlights of Italy's win Thursday over Turkey.
After finishing as one of the top teams in Phase 1, Canada continued its winning ways with an 89-67 win over Mexico. Spurs guard Cory Joseph continued to show his increased improvement by providing Canada with 17 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, and 4 turnovers. Joseph also connected on 3-of-5 three pointers in the match.
With the win, France moves to second place in Group A's standings, and Italy is tied for first with Greece and Finland in Group D of the Eurobasket standings. Canada is now 4-1 at the FIBA Americas through five games.
On Friday, France will face Houston Rockets forward Omri Casspi and Israel in their third Eurobasket game. Italy will have Friday off before resuming Eurobasket play on Saturday against Finland. Joseph and Canada will resume Phase 2 Friday with a match against Venezuela.
