World Basketball Champions Spain Suffer Narrow Defeat At The Hands Of The US In Malaga

THE Spanish basketball team suffered a narrow defeat to the United States in the FEB Centenary Tournament in Malaga.

The two nations clashed in Malaga’s Palacio de Deportes José María Martín Carpena this Sunday, August 13, with the US winning 88-98.

Sergio Scariolo’s players held their own for most of the game against the North Americans, who were the favourites on paper.

FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023

Despite the loss, this game served as a superb warm-up for the upcoming FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 which is being hosted jointly by the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia from August 25 to September 10.

Spain will be looking to retain the prestigious Naismith Trophy that they earned after defeating Argentina 75-95 in the 2019 tournament final that was hosted by China.

After a thumping 99-79 victory over Slovenia last Friday 11, the Spanish are hitting form at just the right time ahead of the tournament. They beat Venezuela in Madrid last week as well.

Willy and Juancho Hernangómez demonstrated their NBA quality on their first appearance back in Europe for a while. In only his third match in the national top, Aldama shone again, while Juan Núñez took another step forward.

The US will be desperate to regain the World crown

The United States gave no quarter and demanded a perfect 40 minutes from Spain. They are desperate to reclaim the crown they lost in China four years ago. Three players shone for the visitors in the form of Jalen Brunson, Paolo Banchero and Mikal Bridges.

Spain fought to the very end under the direction of Juan Núñez, who once again demonstrated why Scariolo has not hesitated to include him in his final World Cup squad.

Although the challenge was enormous when facing the defender of the year, centre Jaren Jackson, Willy Hernángomez was the beacon of the Spanish attack.

The first quarter ended 28-26

With the first quarter ending 28-26, the show was already on at the Carpena. Rudy’s unstoppable three-pointers, Jalen Brunson’s off-the-ball manoeuvres and Spain’s static play against the meteoric USA produced a mixture that was making for a very enjoyable game.

The United States is that team that seems to be being outplayed by far until you look at the scoreboard and see 36-38, 40-44 and on that upward line; the Americans are capable of biting in every possible way and it is not easy to keep up with their scoring pace.

Santi Aldama, who scored eight points in the first half, is always an important factor in this role, but the defensive capacity of the United States should not be overlooked. They shut down their opponents in two spurts and went into the break with a 45-55 lead.

Spain kept pressing and got within one point

Spain came back out looking for a comeback and got within two points (56-58), within one after a triple by Núñez (63-64) and in the heat of the moment, Rudy’s triple made it 68-64 with 2:22 to go in the third quarter.

However, Steve Kerr’s team continued to slow the pace with Paolo Banchero on the court and finished the third quarter ahead, although with Spain very much in the game at 72-73.

The United States demands excellence and when it was not reached, the visitors opened the gap. As a result, Spain lost eight points with four minutes to go. This proved to be a distance that was already impossible to overcome despite a final attempt by the valiant Spanish players.