Japan lost to world No. 4 Serbia 119-100 in men’s basketball on Sunday when the women’s team was also beaten, 75-65, by Belgium in their final Paris Olympics warm-up games.
Los Angeles Lakers forward Rui Hachimura sank a game-high 29 points, and former National Basketball Association player Yuta Watanabe returned from a left calf injury to start and score 10 points in 26th-ranked Japan’s promising showing in Belgrade against a Paris medal hopeful.
Japan’s Rui Hachimura (R) scores against Serbia during a men’s basketball Paris Olympics warm-up game in Belgrade on July 21, 2024. (Kyodo)
“It was a big step forward. It wasn’t a bad game playing away to a strong team,” Japan head coach Tom Hovasse said after facing Serbia, runner-up at last summer’s World Cup, led by the Denver Nuggets’ three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.
“We wanted to win, but at least we scored 100 points. Our offense was quite good.”
Watanabe scored two three-pointers in 15 minutes of action, easing fears about his fitness. Things are looking better also for Hachimura, who was sometimes out of sync with his teammates in Friday’s 104-83 loss to Germany in Berlin.
Japan’s Yuta Watanabe (12) plays against Serbia during a men’s basketball Paris Olympics warm-up game in Belgrade on July 21, 2024. (Kyodo)
“I’m feeling really good. I can head into the Olympics with confidence,” Watanabe said.
Japan’s women, who won silver at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and currently rank ninth in the world, fell to sixth-ranked Belgium in Lens, France. The teams will meet again on Aug. 4 in their final Olympic group-stage game.
A 26-11 first-quarter deficit weighed heavily on Japan, which again shot poorly from beyond the arc, 9-for-38, as had been the case in Friday’s 75-62 loss to France.
“Our players tense up the moment they attempt their shots,” head coach Toru Onzuka said.
Related coverage:
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Basketball: Rui Hachimura keen to show off his NBA game in Paris Olympics
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