Canada men's basketball falls to France, eliminated in Olympic quarterfinals

Canada's men's basketball team lost to France by an 82-73 score, bringing the team's Olympic journey to an end in the quarterfinals.

Elimination at this stage is a disappointment after finishing in third place at last year's FIBA World Cup, especially since Canada had 2023 NBA Champion guard Jamal Murray on the roster for these Olympics after he missed the World Cup.

In this game, France shuffled their lineup by bringing NBA veteran Evan Fournier and reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert off the bench, and it worked.

Gobert played just under four minutes off the bench, while Fournier played almost 25 minutes and scored 15 points.

France superstar Victor Wembanyama only scored seven points, but Guerschon Yabusele and Isaia Cordinier led the team with 22 and 20 points, respectively, and Matias Lessort drew 11 fouls and shot 9/14 from the free throw line.

For Canada, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the team with 27 points while RJ Barrett chipped in 16, but it wasn't enough to overcome the hosts.

Canada's 4/21 three-point shooting did them no favors, either.

Throughout the Olympics, Barrett led Canada with 21.0 points per game, followed by SGA with 19.0 points per game. Dwight Powell led the team in rebounding with 5.8 per game, and Murray was the leading assist provider with 4.7 per game.

Having been among the favourites - though well behind the heavily favored Team USA - with +1100 pre-tournament odds, Canada will go back to the drawing board ahead of the next major basketball tournament, the 2027 FIBA World Cup.