France hold off Italy behind their NBA trio, will face Slovenia in the semis / News - Basketnews.com

In a match between two European juggernauts, France edged out Italy 84-75 (20-25, 23-17, 21-12, 20-21) to advance to the Olympic semi-finals, where undefeated Slovenia with Luka Doncic await.

Player of the Game EFF 27 Nicolas Batum Points 15 Accuracy 5-12 Rebounds 14 Assists 3

France were led by three NBA players. Rudy Gobert dominated the paint, scoring 22 points (10/13 2PT, 2/2 FT) and grabbing 9 boards. Even Fournier supplied 21 points (4/9 2PT, 3/9 3PT, 4/5 FT), while Nicolas Batum added 15 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 steals.

Simone Fontecchio, Danilo Gallinari, and Achille Polonara kept Italy in the game. They accounted for 59 of Italy's 75 points, but that wasn't enough to stop France.

Italy jumped to an early 9-4 lead after Achille Polonara's 3-pointer. However, Rudy Gobert was punishing the shorthanded Italian frontcourt and helping his team even the scales at 18. Gobert finished the quarter with eight points, but Italy held a five-point lead.

The Italians remained in control for the first four minutes of the second quarter, but France rallied back, and after Moustapha Fall's and-one dunk gained a 33-30 advantage. Both teams continued to go back-and-forth, with France holding onto a narrow one-point advantage going into halftime.

France continued to create problems for Italy in the paint and went on a 9-0 run, capped off by Gobert's block and dunk to give his team a 56-46 lead. Fournier and Batum added 3-pointers to expand their team's advantage even further, but Italy managed to weather the storm, being down by 10 after three.

They kept chipping at the French lead and, with the help of Gallinari and Fontecchio, cut it to six points early in the fourth period. Fontecchio hit a crucial 3-pointer and was fouled on another long-range attempt, tying the game at the line (66-66). Timothe Luwaru-Cabarrot made his first basket to put France back in front, but Gallinari answered with a long-range bomb of his own to tie the game at 73 with 2:35 remaining.

Thomas Heurtel showed his composure to give France the advantage, and Gobert extended their lead to five with 1:14 to go (78-73). Gallinari made two free throws on the other end, but Gobert answered with a thunderous slam, and Italy only had 23 seconds to erase a five-point deficit. However, Fontecchio missed a 3-pointer, and France held on to an 84-75 victory.

France: Rudy Gobert 22 (9 rebounds), Even Fournier 21, Nicolas Batum 15 (14 rebounds), Thomas Heurtel 10 (5 assists).

Italy: Simone Fontecchio 23, Danilo Gallinari 21 (10 rebounds), Achille Polonara 15 (7 rebounds).

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