On September 10, Beijing time, the three or four finals of the men's basketball World Cup were played between the Canadian team and the United States. The Rockets' Dillon was brave, scoring a game-high 39 points and Alexander 31; Edwards scored 24 points, and Reeves and Barrett each scored 23. In the end, Canada defeated the United States 127-118 in overtime to win third place.
Canada was unstoppable in the group stage, beating France, Lebanon and Latvia to advance to the round of 16 after finishing first in the group. In the second stage of the match, Canada suddenly "blacked out" and lost 65-69 to Brazil, and finally advanced to the quarterfinals in second place. In the quarterfinals, Canada defeated Slovenia with Doncic 100-89 to advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Canada faced European powerhouse Serbia, which lost 86-95 and could only compete with the United States for three or four places.
The United States has almost the same path to promotion as Canada, winning all three games in the group stage, losing to Lithuania in the round of 16 repechage, then eliminating Italy to reach the final four, losing to Germany in the semifinals, and losing the competition for this World Cup title.
Like the American team, the vast majority of the players on the Canadian team play in the NBA in the United States, and the matchup between these two teams is actually just an NBA "infighting", and both sides are very familiar with it.
Dillon quickly got into shape after the start of the game, scoring five consecutive points to give Canada an 8-0 lead; Then Canada began to rush outside, shooting 6 of 11 from three-point range, and the United States relied on Portis' chase to stop the bleeding. At the beginning of the second quarter, the U.S. team blossomed inside and out, hitting a 19-2 shockwave and overcoming the score; Dillon quickly stepped up, he scored 8 points with Alexander, and the two teams entered a tug-of-war; Relying on Dillon's 7-of-9 shooting in the first half, Canada went into the halftime with a 58-56 scoreline.
In the second half, Dillon and Alexander felt hot and continued to score, and Brunson, Edwards, and Bridges of the American team also scored consecutive points, and the score was once close to only 1 point; Alexander started to make another three-pointer, and Canada had a nine-point advantage at the end of the third quarter. In the final quarter, Edwards, Reeves and Bridges took turns to erupt, and Dillon single-handedly fought against them, taking turns to lead the score, and after Dillon hit one of two free throws, the two teams drew 107. With 34.6 seconds left in the game, Alexander and Dillon each scored two points, widening the gap to four. Bridges relied on free throws and a magical three-pointer to equalize in the final 0.6 seconds, 111-111, and the two teams went into overtime.
At the start of extra time, Dillon and Alexander combined for nine points to give Canada a six-point lead at 120-114. In the final moments, the United States made a mistake and Barrett made a three-pointer to end the game. In the end, Canada won 127-118 in overtime, and the latter missed out on a World Cup medal.
Dillon scored 39 points and five assists on 12-of-18 shooting and 7-of-8 three-point shooting, and he also became the most critical player for Canada to beat the United States. It is worth mentioning that the Canadian team has never won any medals in the men's basketball World Cup before, and the bronze medal in this World Cup will be their new breakthrough.