In the penultimate friendly match before the World Cup

The Spanish team fell to Canada, who won a very difficult victory (80-85) in the penultimate friendly match before the World Cup. There Spain of Sergio Scariolo succumbed to the Canadians in the overtime of a match of maximum equality which would be resolved by the horn in the Granada Sports Palace. A defeat in which the national team recovered for the cause Sergio Llull Already Usman Garuba. NBA stars Gilgeous-Alexander (22 points) and RJ Barrett (14 points) they sank the world champions and Europe.

Canada began to dominate Spain on the physical level, but those of Sergio Scariolo They managed to assert themselves defensively, closed out the match and led at halftime, overturning a score that was against them almost the entire first half. The self-confidence of Juan Nuñez, who still looks like a veteran, added to the tricks of Lull And Garuba They gave the team a partial victory (44-40). The entry of the Balearics corrected the lack of fluidity and that of Santi Aldama the poor triple starter.

With a quintet made up of NBA players, Canada showed that he had no problem resolving the loss of Jamal Murray. RJ Barrett And GilgeousAlexander were the most active throughout the match which, accompanied by good painting with Olynyk And Powellthey put our team in difficulty from the first jump Grenade. Brothers Hernández They did everything they could to provide that extra intensity in defense, key to big days. Juancho was the top scorer of Spain with 12 points.

On restart it was Aldama who led the offensive game Spain. The team once again faced the best version of the Canadiens, but the player of the Memphis Grizzlies supported those of Scariolo drawing on its freshness and youth. To do this, he had the help of Rudy Fernándezwho left a delicious break in a missed triple and, immediately afterwards, made up for it with a basket from the three-point line.

However, the Canadians returned to their best version and sent the game into overtime in a final quarter that they dominated from start to finish. In added time, they took advantage of the lack of success of Spain during the first three minutes to take the cat to the water Grenade. RJ Barrett He gave no option on the free kick and spoiled the team’s game.

Despite the defeat, Spain can draw two good conclusions for the last friendly match against Dominican Republic and especially the World Cup, which will begin on August 25. The first is the reappearance of Garuba by style, second best scorer (10 points) and the one who spent the most time on the field, and second by the commitment of players like Juan Núñez either Alberto Diaz, in addition to a Aldama which is beginning to emerge as one of the most important pieces for Scariolo.