Schroder outduels Mills as Germany beat Australia to go 2-0

OKINAWA (Japan) – The stars came out to play but it was Dennis Schroder who shone the brightest as he towed Germany past Australia in a clash of favorites, 85-82, for their second win in as many games in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023, Sunday night at the Okinawa Arena.

Turning point: The NBA guard finished with 30 points, none bigger than the go-ahead bucket off a drive to the cup to give his side the 83-81 lead with exactly 46 seconds remaining.

Josh Giddey chopped the deficit to just a point following a split from the foul line but Die Mannschaft made sure that it would be the closest their foes could get. They forced a key stop against an attacking Patty Mills to regain possession with only 11.2 seconds left to play.

Maodo Lo then whammed the nail in the coffin as he scored off an unmolested bucket with 1.7 second to go, and the team would erupt in celebration as they escaped with a narrow victory after squandering a 72-66 advantage with under eight minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

TCL Player of the Game: Schroder deservingly earned the TCL Player of the Game nod as he became just the second German player to score 30+ points in a FIBA World Cup game, after Dirk Nowitzki (3 games), who was, coincidentally, in attendance together with Jorge Garbajosa. It was the first 30+ point game for the point guard.

Big thanks to Schroder, Germany have won their last 5 games at the FIBA World Cup, their joint-best winning run in the competition as they also won 5 in 1994.

Schroder’s big night also eclipsed the historic outing of Mills, who led the Australians with 21 points and rose to no. 2 in the Boomers’ all-time World Cup scoring leaders.

Press conference: