Zagars' record-breaking assist tally caps Latvia's historic World Cup finish / News - Basketnews.com

Arturs Zagars made World Cup history, as Latvia demolished Lithuania and captured 5th spot in the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

Entering the court of the Mall of Asia arena to play the game that would decide which team would clinch 5th place in the 2023 World Cup, Latvia and Lithuania looked like two teams with different levels of motivation.

Player of the Game EFF 23 Arturs Kurucs Points 20 Accuracy 6-10 Rebounds 4 Assists 2

For the tournament's newcomers, a win would constitute a groundbreaking moment in the country's recent basketball history. For Lithuania, it was another game they had to play in order to conclude a rather successful tourney.

However, very few -if any- would expect such a one-sided showdown, as Latvia demolished their Baltic opponents 98-63 (28-20, 21-18, 28-9, 21-16) behind another historic feat by their point guard, Arturs Zagars. The Latvian player dished out 17 assists, recording a new World Cup record.

The previous one (15 dimes) belonged to Carlik Jones and Toni Kukoc.

Overall, Latvia had 34 assists for just three turnovers against Lithuania, who seemed to have given up on the game long before the end.

Four players scored in double digits for the winning side. Arturs Kurucs recorded a personal record with the NT with 20 points (6/10 from distance), while Rolands Smits (17 points, 6 boards), Andrejs Grazulis (12 points) and Rodions Kurucs (11) followed.

For Lithuania, only Jonas Valanciunas (15 points, 8 rebounds) and Rokas Jokubaitis (16 points on 6/15 FG) stood tall. Tomas Dimsa added 13 points for the losing side, but most of them came in garbage time.

That was Latvia's second win over Lithuania in eight games played at an international tournament, 22 years after the 2001 EuroBasket. The two teams met right before the final tournament in a friendly game in Taiwan, where Lithuania prevailed by 96-69 to close out their preparation game cycle.

Latvia started off in dynamic fashion, leading by as many as 10 (16-6) after four minutes and making their first five 3-point attempts. Jonas Valanciunas spearheaded Lithuania's reaction with eight points and four rebounds in that span.

Lithuania / Schedule

USA Lithuania104-110 Lithuania Serbia68-87 Lithuania Slovenia100-84 Latvia Lithuania98-63

Kazys Maksvytis' men went strong on the offensive glass, but couldn't contain Latvia's ball movement and wasted four three throws (1/5) in the first quarter. Arturs Kurucs capitalized on his open looks to score 11 points in only six minutes.

Andrejs Grazulis, author of 60 points in Latvia's last three games including a career-high against Italy, entered the court to add more size to Luca Banchi's lineup. Five straight points by Rokas Jokubaitis pushed Lithuania closer (26-20), as Latvia kept shooting from the perimeter.

Latvia kept the lead, as Arturs Zagars was dishing out dimes at will (eight in the first 15 minutes and 10 by half-time) and Klavs Cavars became an important factor scoring his first points in the tournament. Even though Davis Bertans didn't play to his standards and Latvia didn't make a single 3-point shot in the second quarter, the World Cup rookies closed the first half at +11 (49-38).

Coming back right after the break, Ignas Brazdeikis left the court with a knee injury. That turned out to be a crucial factor in the game since Latvia increased the lead to 24 (63-39) on the back of a partial score of 14-1 and largely thanks to Grazulis' and Arturs Kurucs' shooting.

The distance separating the two sides reached bigger proportions (68-41 and 89-52) and the contest was essentially over way before the final buzzer.

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