Surviving Dennis Schroder's 4-26 FG, Germany rematch USA in 2023 FIBA World Cup semi-finals
Survival is probably what the German team did and did very well against Latvia in the quarter-finals of the FIBA World Cup 2023.
"The Tank" survived the worst match of No. 1 star Dennis Schroder's career, while also standing firm against the countless pressures the opponent created throughout the match.
Latvia's attempt to knock out the Germans came in the last 2 minutes when this year's World Cup dark horse team created a 9-2 run, shortening the match score to only 79-81.
Unfortunately, this is also the final score of the match after Davis Bertans' attempt to get the game-winner out of the box, sealed a suffocating victory and a ticket to the semi-finals for Germany.
The duo of Franz Wagner and Moritz Wagner lead the German team with 16 and 12 points respectively. On the Latvian side, Davis Bertans and Arturs Zagars scored the most points with 20 and 24 points respectively. Zagars alone had 8 more assists, the highest for both teams in this quarterfinal match.
A contrasting image appeared by the FIBA photographer's lens. The joy of the German team was in the same frame as Davis Bertans' disappointment when he could not bring victory to Latvia.
They are one of the two highest ranked teams in European countries. Serbia is the owner of the remaining ticket to Paris next summer.
However, this is the story of 2024, in front of the "German tanks" will be an extremely worth watching semi-final against the US team taking place on Friday night, September 8.
The two teams met in a series of pre-FIBA World Cup 2023 friendly matches taking place in Abu Dhabi, where the US won with a score of 99-91.
A lot of neutral fans felt sorry for Latvia with the magical journey they had at the FIBA World Cup 2023.
After surprising in the group stage with a victory that eliminated the French champion candidate from the tournament, Latvia continued to cause fever when defeating Brazil and turning Spain into the former king in the second round.
In the quarterfinals, Davis Bertans and his teammates played extremely resilient, only 1 shot away from the top 4 after an unbelievable 9-2 score. It's painful when the sweet fruit doesn't appear.
Although it has stopped and is no longer able to compete for medals, Latvia still has its first matches in the 5-8 Playoffs series. Their next match is a selection meeting that takes place on Thursday, September 7.
