Schroder outduels Mills as Germany beat Australia to go 2-0

OKINAWA (Japan) - The stars came out to play but it was Dennis Schroder who shone the brightest as he towed Germany past Australia in a clash of favorites, 85-82, for their second win in as many games in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, Sunday night at the Okinawa Arena.

 

Turning point: The NBA guard finished with 30 points, none bigger than the go-ahead bucket off a drive to the cup to give his side the 83-81 lead with exactly 46 seconds remaining.

Josh Giddey chopped the deficit to just a point following a split from the foul line but Die Mannschaft made sure that it would be the closest their foes could get. They forced a key stop against an attacking Patty Mills to regain possession with only 11.2 seconds left to play.

Maodo Lo then whammed the nail in the coffin as he got away with an easy bucket with 1.7 seconds to go, and the team would erupt in celebration as they escaped with the narrow victory after squandering a 72-66 advantage with under eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

Lo delivered 20 points, stepping up big time on a night Germany missed big man Franz Wagner due to an ankle injury he sustained versus Japan last Friday.

TCL Player of the Game: Schroder deservingly earned the TCL Player of the Game nod as he became just the second German player to score 30+ points in a FIBA World Cup game, after Dirk Nowitzki (3 games), who was, coincidentally, in attendance together with Jorge Garbajosa.

German legend Dirk Nowitzki congratulated the hero of the day

It was also the first-ever 30+ point game for the point guard in the global tilt.

Thanks to Schroder, Germany have won their last 5 games at the FIBA World Cup, their joint-best winning run in the competition as they also won 5 in 1994.

Schroder's huge night also eclipsed the historic outing of Mills, who led the Australians with 21 points and rose to no. 2 in the Boomers' all-time World Cup scoring leaders.

 

Stats don't lie: Both squads dished the same number of assists with 18 and nearly had the same field goal percentage - Australia shot just slightly better with 54-percent compared to the winners' 51-percent - but Germany had more steal with 9, including 4 in the fourth quarter alone.

And the biggest of which, definitely, was when Johannes Thiemann stripped the ball away from Mills to get the ball back, leading to Lo's killer blow shortly after.

Bottomline: By going 2-0 following the thrilling win, Germany have solidified their position on top of of Group E. They could clinch the pool's no. 1 seed against Finland on Tuesday.

Australia, on the other hand, fell to 1-1 and would need to beat the Akatsuki on Tuesday as well to keep their chances of finishing at no. 2 in the group alive.

They said: "I thought it was a real good basketball game. Physical, with two really good teams playing. It came down to one possession. I though we started the game really well, and we ended it really well." - Gordie Herbert, Head Coach, Germany

"I was just trying to be aggressive. I think those are moments when other players have to be aggressive and try to step up a little bit, so I was just trying to be a little more aggressive. It worked out for me today, and I was able to help the team. I'm happy about that." - Maodo Lo, Germany

"Real hard loss for us. I'm proud of the way our guys were competing. We gave ourselves a chance. Knew it was going to be a tough game, and I thought it came down to a couple little things, maybe, that were out of our control. We were right there. Onward to the next one." - Brian Goorjian, Head Coach, Australia.

Press conference:

 

FIBA