FIBA World Cup: Canada Cruises, Downs Doncic Behind 24 From Knicks' Barrett

A dominant second half from New York Knicks star RJ Barrett set the tone for Team Canada's landmark win at the FIBA Basketball World Cup.

The world, or at least the Olympics, is simply not enough for RJ Barrett.

Barrett, the New York Knicks' homegrown star, broke loose for Canada's men's national basketball team in the quarterfinal round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, which saw the True North earn a 100-89 victory over Slovenia on Wednesday in Manila. A 24-point outing for Barrett was one of the primary reasons why the Canadians are moving on to their first World Cup semifinal round in program history and guaranteed their best-ever finish in the competition.  

"NUMBER NINE LOOKING FINE"

RJ Barrett full stats/highlights against Luka Doncic and Slovenia in the quarterfinals:

🇨🇦 24 PTS
🇨🇦 9 REB
🇨🇦 1 AST
🇨🇦 1 STL
🇨🇦 9-of-22 FG, 5-of-5 FT pic.twitter.com/MkSenWyz3t

— Jake Brown (@JakeBr0wn) September 6, 2023

The World Cup has been a roller-coaster affair for Barrett but Wednesday was an undeniable success: By scoring 18 of his 24 in the second half, Barrett helped Canada (5-1) pull away from a 50-all halftime tie, his antics helping build a lead that summitted at 17. 

He also pulled in nine rebounds in the win, one short of a double-double. It was a reversal of the second-round closing win over defending World Cup champion Spain, which saw Barrett pace a strong opening for the Road Warriors. Canada held a plus-18 advantage during Barrett's 34 minutes of work, the second-best on the team behind plus-27 for Kelly Olynyk (Utah).

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Beyond Barrett, Canada's regular contributors likewise came to play, further vindicating the NBA-laden roster assembly commissioned by his father and general manager Rowan. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Oklahoma City) had 31 points and 10 rebounds while Dillon Brooks (Houston) put up 14 and stifling defense on Slovenian star Luka Doncic (Dallas) before each was respectively ejected for taunting and a pair of technical foul charges.

Doncic, who was also charged with three turnovers, led the Slovenians with 26 points before his departure. Slovenia was likewise seeking its first World Cup semifinal bid after missing the last competition entirely in 2019.

Dillon Brooks gets the stop on Luka Doncic 🔒

Luka gets upset and gets a tech:https://t.co/Gw6ch7o5nA

— Bradeaux (@BradeauxNBA) September 6, 2023

Friday's semifinal round now awaits and Canada will partake in the opener against Serbia (4:45 a.m. ET, ESPN+). The Serbians, who took down Lithuania in their own quarterfinal on Monday, are without newly-minted NBA champion Nikola Jokic but have enjoyed an ongoing breakout from leading scorer Bogdan Bogdanović (Atlanta).

The Canadians' win also leaves the World Cup on the cusp of an All-North American championship match: the United States, whose team features Barrett's New York compatriots Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, previously prevailed in their own quarterfinal matchup against Italy. Prior to Canada's win, the Americans learned that they'll face Germany in their own semifinal after Die Mannschaft took down Latvia earlier on Wednesday.