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Two of the contenders for the World Basketball Championship entered the tournament on opposite sides of the spectrum on Friday: Australia hit back with a big win over Finland (98-72), while reigning Olympic runners-up France suffered a rout against Canada (95-65). Meanwhile, Olympic runners-up Lebanon suffered a crushing defeat to Latvia (109-70).

Les Bleus, bronze medallists at the 2019 World Cup, fell to the team-mates of Oklahoma City guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (27 points) and must now beat Latvia if they are to avoid being eliminated from Group H in Jakarta. In the same group, Latvia strolled to a 109-70 win over Lebanon. The Cedars, timid in all areas of the game, produced a pale copy of their performance against the Baltics.

In Okinawa, the Australians will meet the Germans (Japan), also winners (81-63). The Aussie “Boomers” will be going into the match full of confidence, having made short work of Lauri Markannen’s Finnish team.

The Utah Jazz interior (19 points but 1/7 from long range, 8 rebounds) and his team-mates held out for 20 minutes (40-45 at half-time) before suffering the onslaught of the Australians, led by the inimitable Patty Mills.

At 35, the future Atlanta Hawks player scored 25 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and stole four balls. He was well supported by Australia’s future, Okhaloma City point guard Josh Giddey (14 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists).

In Manila, the record number of spectators for a World Cup match was broken, with 38,115 attending the Philippine Arena (50,000 seats approx.) for the Philippines’ defeat of the Dominican Republic by Minnesota inside Karl-Anthony Towns (26 points, 10 rebounds).

The previous record (32,616) dates back to the 1994 World Cup final in Toronto.

In the same group, the Italians struggled to overcome Angola (81-67), still on their heels with five minutes to go (62-67), before the partners of Utah winger Simone Fontecchio (19 points) made the difference.

Also in the capital of the Philippines, Lithuania easily overcame Egypt (93-67), while in the same Group D, Nikola Vucevic’s Montenegro (27 points and 10 rebounds for the Chicago pivot) took three quarters to defeat Mexico (91-71).