Canada's World Cup hopes end with loss to Lithuania
Canada has again gone out with a whimper on the world basketball stage.
The country's 92-69 loss to Lithuania on Tuesday puts an end to its FIBA World Cup hopes and makes the path to qualifying for next year's Olympics an even trickier one.
Lithuania and Australia advance from Group H to the second round of the World Cup. Canada will enter the classification round, which will determine whether it reaches one of next summer's last-chance Olympic qualifying tournaments.
Canada fell to Australia in its World Cup opener on Sunday and hasn't won a FIBA World Cup game since 2002. It is 0-7 across its last two tournament appearances.
Like on Sunday, Tuesday's defeat was mostly due to a lack of talent and frontcourt depth. With NBA wings Andrew Wiggins, Jamal Murray, and RJ Barrett sitting the tournament out, a premium was put on the game in the trenches. However, without the likes of big men Tristan Thompson, Kelly Olynyk, and Dwight Powell, Canada was overmatched inside against Lithuania and was outscored 52-28 in the paint.
Memphis Grizzlies center Jonas Valanciunas led Lithuania with 13 points and eight rebounds. Canada failed to find an offensive rhythm, shooting 43% from the field and 36% from deep.
Canada head coach Nick Nurse attempted to employ his famed box-and-one defense - used to great effect in the NBA Finals - in the second quarter Tuesday. However, in what appeared to break down into a failed 2-3 zone, Lithuania's Mindaugas Kuzminskas immediately buried an open 3-pointer against the set.
Kuzminskas finished with nine points, while Indiana Pacers forward Domantas Sabonis scored 10 for Lithuania.