LILLE (France) - More than 27,000 fans in the stands probably expected an easy-going Tuesday afternoon as the hosts of the Olympics faced Japan at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium.
Instead, they got a wild overtime game, one that featured so much madness that it was easy to forget Japan's biggest star Rui Hachimura was ejected early in the fourth quarter with two unsportsmanlike fouls committed in the game.
Without him, Japan played their hearts out, had a four-point lead with 16 seconds left, but could do nothing to stop the French kids when it mattered most.
Matthew Strazel and Victor Wembanyama came up big in a 94-90 overtime win.
Turning point
An unreal effort by Yuki Kawamura saw Japan torture their hosts with drives, kicks and three-point shooting, not being afraid even when France had an early nine-point lead in the first half.
Instead, Kawamura got more help from Hachimura and Josh Hawkinson, leading Japan to a 78-77 lead with five minutes to play in the fourth. No team scored for the next four minutes, until Kawamura found Hawkinson for a layup to push the gap to 80-77.
It was just the start of the unforgettable final minute of the fourth period. Evan Fournier hit a rainbow three-pointer, but Yuki Kawamura stayed calm from the line twice to make it 84-80 Japan with 16 seconds to go.
All they needed to pick up their first win since 1976 was one stop, but they couldn't find it. Matthew Strazel made an incredible desperation three-pointer while being fouled, and completed the four-point play to send the game to overtime at 84-84.
That was the turning point of the game, and probably of the Olympics for France. Because it allowed Wemby to go crazy in overtime, get a 2+1 to start it, follow it up with a three-pointer, and two free throws, going on a personal 8-0 run across the first four minutes of the overtime.
France held on to that lead even when Japan made two straight triples, earning a valuable win to get to 2-0 ahead of their matchup with Germany.
Game heroes
The 21-year-old Matthew Strazel came off the bench strong in this one, scoring 17 points on 4-of-7 shooting from three-point range, and hitting the clutch free throws with 6.8 to play in overtime to make it a two-possession game.
The 20-year-old Victor Wembanyama was right there next to him, finishing with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists in an all-round effort which earned him an efficiency rating of 30.
Stats don't lie
When it's an overtime game, depth is always the answer to major questions. France got 50 bench points. Japan? Just 9.
France also had 6 blocks. And Nicolas Batum and Rudy Gobert are some of the best ever at the Olympics in this category. They showed why once again tonight.
Bottom line
There were tense moments in this one, but the entire nation of France can exhale now. They won the game, that's what counts, because they could've been in a pickle if they lost this one before facing the reigning world champions next.
As for Japan, this was just incredible. They aren't here to be bystanders, they are competitive and they definitely earned a lot of fans worldwide with this performance.
Yuki Kawamura finished with 29 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in a losing effort.
They said
"We played really well, we fought hard for 40 minutes, and I'm really proud of our effort. We never gave up, they made some runs, but we never looked down, we kept our heads up and kept running. They just made great plays down the stretch, and we couldn't make the next shot." - Yuta Watanabe, Japan
"He's been playing at this level since he's 17, so he's really experienced even though he's really young. And that shot was big. He had ba**s to take that shot and made it, he saved us." - Mathias Lessort, France, talking about the four-point play by Strazel
"He had ba**s to take that shot and made it, he saved us" - Lessort about Strazel's four-pointer
"We can fight with any team. This was a true road game experience for us, 27,000 people, on the road, so many French fans, all chanting against us. To be able to fight until the very end against one of the top teams in the world, that's definitely steps in the right direction for us. No moral victories. We wanted to win." - Josh Hawkinson, Japan
"This is basketball. They played great and lost. They played amazing tonight, they kept fighting, and all credit to this team. Amazing team, man." - Nicolas Batum praising Japan
"The way we started the overtime, getting the ball inside to Wemby, he finally made a bucket inside and that was huge. The win is a win, but if you wanna take the positives - we could've easily given up down four with 10 seconds. We had no solution, and we got a crazy shot from Matthew... Sometimes, God is on your side." - Batum again
"We could've easily given up down four with 10 seconds" - Nic Batum
"It could be only a three, and the defender was not supposed to come to contest the shot when you are +4. That's normally something you don't do, so we are lucky that he took this decision. He was very close to blocking the shot, and I thought for a long time when Matthew took the shot that it could be a block, but fortunately for us, it wasn't, he made a three, and it was and-one. It was like a miracle, for sure." - France head coach Vincent Collet on the four-point play
Quick notes
This was the first time since 1984 that France played an OT game at the Olympics, when they lost to Uruguay (91-87). This was their first overtime Olympic win since they beat Chile 53-52 in 1948
France scored 32 points in the first quarter, the most for them in a single quarter in the history of the Olympics. The previous mark was 30 points against Venezuela in Q4 in 2016
Teams combined for 31 three-pointers, the most since USA and Nigeria combined for 35 in 2012
Yuki Kawamura is the third player getting more than 25 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in an Olympic game in the 21st century. Kevin Durant had it against Argentina in 2016, Luol Deng against Spain in 2012
Kawamura's six three-pointers are the most by a Japanese player at the Olympics
Victor Wembanyama is the first player younger than 22 to combine for 15+ points, 10+ rebounds and 5+ assists in a game at the Olympics
FIBA