This was Victor Wembanyama's opening ceremony.
Victor Wembanyama , of France , celebrates with Evan Fournier, after making a basket and being fouled by Brazil in a men's basketball game at the 2024 Summer Olympics , Saturday, July 27, 2024 in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France .
There was a three-possession display in the second quarter where the 20-year-old Wembamyama would post up almost in the same spot on the right block, wait for the ball, then just go to work. It was still close late — Nicolas Batum's 3-pointer with 1:21 left put France up 10, and an alley-oop dunk by Wembanyama on the next possession sealed the win — but at least the first victory is out of the way. France next plays Tuesday against Japan; a win there would be enough to clinch a quarterfinals spot.
RJ Barrett scored 23 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 21 and Canada survived a big effort from Giannis Antetokounmpo to beat Greece 86-79 in the Paris Olympics opener for both teams in Group A play on Saturday night.Even though Antetokounmpo had the big night, Barrett lauded the waves of defenders Canada threw his way.
"They're a really good team so that's going to happen," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "They're not going to quit, obviously. So we expected that. We expected we'd make our run and they'd have a little more juice and make their run. For us it was just about weathering the storms, and kind of sticking to our game plan throughout the runs. Basketball is a game of ups and downs. We just try to weather the other teams' better than they weather yours.
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