Japan too hot to handle for Brazil
RIO DE JANEIRO (Rio 2016 Olympic Games) - Japan had just too much firepower for Brazil to content with as the two-time reigning Asian champions rolled to an 82-66 win on Monday evening.
RIO DE JANEIRO (Rio 2016 Olympic Games) - Japan had too much firepower for Brazil to content with as the two-time reigning Asian champions rolled to an 82-66 win on Monday evening.
Turning point: There was little to separate the two teams early on as Brazil, much to the delight of the partisan crowd, led 20-19 at the end of the first quarter. However, Japan broke the game wide open with a 10-0 run early in the second period that turned a 24-all scoreline into a 34-24 lead. They never trailed the rest of the way and led by as many as 27 points.
Stats Don't Lie: Brazil shot 26-of-58 (45 percent) from two-point range but that paled in comparison to Japan's 28-of-47 (60 percent) performance. The Japanese also made Brazil pay dearly whenever they lost the ball, scoring 21 points off of their 20 turnovers.
Hero: Ramu Tokashiki had a game-high 23 points on 11-of-17 shooting to go along with 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. Team captain Asami Yoshida and Maki Takada combined for 17 points in the pivotal second quarter. Clarissa Santos deserves praise for grabbing a mammoth 16 rebounds in Brazil's losing cause.
The Bottom Line: With the win, Japan joined Australia and France to stand a perfect 2-0 in Group A, while Brazil share an 0-2 mark with both Belarus and Turkey.
FIBA