Shai Gilgeous-Alexander punched a soft, silky triple Friday late in the third quarter, then showed three fingers to the enchanted crowd.
In his first appearance on the national team in six years, and the first game in his hometown since high school, guard Oklahoma City Thunder scored 15 of his 32 points in a dominant third quarter, leading Canada to a 95-75 victory over the Dominican Republic in the year. Classification for the World Cup.
“We won. That’s the most important thing. But it was a fun night, a fun night without a doubt,” said the 23-year-old, who arrived in the arena wearing a Canada Hockey jersey.
Canada improved to 5-0. The Dominican Republic fell to 3-2 with both defeats against Canada.
Kelly Olynyk scored 17 points and scored 11 rebounds for Canada. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who is Gilgeous-Alexander’s cousin, also had 17 points in front of about 6,000 fans at the FirstOntario Center.
“It’s fun to come back here, especially in front of the fans at home. You don’t get that opportunity every day,” Olynyk, 31, said.
“This group of guys, especially the youngsters, I feel like I’m the biggest one here now. They have a lot of talent, a lot of skill and it’s fun to be there.”
LOOK at the Gilgeous-Alexander guide Canada to the World Cup qualifier victory:
Gilgeous-Alexander leads Canada to the dominant victory over the Dominican Republic
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a maximum of 32 points when Canada beat RD in their qualifier for the FIBA World Cup in Hamilton.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who had not played since mid-March due to a persistent ankle injury, scored the first points of the night with a left-footed interlock.
“I surprised myself a little bit. I’ve never had a left-footed kill in my career,” he said, smiling. “That was a good way to start, a good way to start for sure … but it probably won’t happen again.”
His contributions, which also included five rebounds, five assists, three steals and a couple of blocks, earned high praise from his teammates.
“Sure he’s up there with the best of them,” said Olynyk, who made his national team debut in 2010.
“It’s a privilege to play with a guy like that. Now we’ve had a lot going through this show. He’s not alone. It’s fun to play with him, fun to watch, fun to witness.”
Victor Liz scored 12 points for the Dominican Republic.
Canada is on Monday to play against the U.S. Virgin Islands without a win to conclude the third qualifying window.
The third of six windows marks coach Nick Nurse’s first meeting of his “core” of summer players, including four NBA players that began Friday.
Canada has been plagued by non-NBA appearances at major tournaments. After failing to qualify for last summer’s Tokyo Olympics, Nurse asked the best players on the show to sign a three-year commitment to play with Canada until the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The result was arguably the most talented gathering of Canadian players at camp last week in Toronto. Several, such as Jamal Murray recovering from an injury, did not play, but Nurse said the week was a success.
“It looked like we had taken another step forward in construction. We had a lot of people in the gym,” he said.
Nurse kicked off his four NBA players on Friday: Gilgeous-Alexander, who received loud applause from the audience in his hometown of the former Copps Coliseum, Alexander-Walker (Utah Jazz), Dwight Powell (Dallas Mavericks) and Olynyk (Detroit Pistons), in addition. Melvin Ejim, the mainstay of the national team.
In their first game in Ontario since 2018, the Canadians led during the first quarter. An Alexander-Walker triple on the bell gave Canada a 21-16 lead to start the second.
🇨🇦 Oh, CANADA!
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– @FIBAWC
The Dominican Republic briefly led the second quarter. A 16-5 run ended with Kyle Alexander’s tray on the bell, however, it gave Canada a 46-36 lead at the break.
“We felt each other as the game went on, I built some chemistry as the game went on and I was pretty happy with our overall defensive effort,” Nurse said.
The Canadians retreated in the third to advance 76-48 in the face of the final stretch.
The classification for the World Cup has 80 countries divided into four regions. Eight American teams qualify for the 2023 World Cup in Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines.
The World Cup is the main qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The remaining three qualifying windows are at the end of August and November this year and February 2023.