One for the ages: Germany stun USA in a Semi-Final with 224 points

MANILA (Philippines) – The United States and Germany played the highest scoring Semi-Final in the history of the FIBA Basketball World Cup. It came down to the wire, and Germany prevailed in the end. Final score 113-111.

Germany will now face Serbia in the Final on Sunday, while the United States move to the Third Place Game against Canada.

Turning point: Back in 1994, Russia and Croatia played in the Semi-Finals and the final score said 66-64. Basketball has changed, a lot, as the United States and Germany combined for 119 points in the first half alone, USA being on top 60-59.

If the first half was done in fifth gear, the start of the second one saw Germany go to sixth. Franz Wagner and Daniel Theis were pushing the tempo, and Andreas Obst joined them midway through the third with the unusual side to his game: driving and kicking. Plus the usual, the shooting, which saw him get 19 before the fourth quarter even started.

When Isaac Bonga and Johannes Thiemann added a quick little 5-0 run, Germany opened up an 84-75 lead with two and a half minutes to play in the third. The score after 30 minutes was 94-84 after Dennis Schroder made a pull up two against a Paolo Banchero switch.

USA tried their best to close the gap in the fourth, and it took back-to-back triples by Austin Reaves and Anthony Edwards to make it -3 from their point of view at 106-103 with 3:17 left to play. The majority of the 11,011 fans in the Mall of Asia Arena helped them with the “Defense! Defense!” chants, and it got deafening when Edwards went in for a big dunk in that run.

Reaves’ free throws made it 108-107 with just over a minute to play. Germany’s response? A gigantic corner three by Andi Obst! Schroder’s pull up pushed the gap to 113-107, Reaves had a quick dunk to cut it to -4 again, but even when USA got possession back, Anthony Edwards threw it out of bounds with 27.6 left to play.

Germany managed to drain the clock and book their first trip to the Final, ever!

TCL Player of the Game: Andreas Obst, what was that!? The 27-year-old from Halle even heard MVP chants from the stands early in the fourth quarter, completely punishing all defensive lapses by the United States.

They went under the screen? He shot over it. They went after him, he drove to the paint. They collapsed? He found his teammates. Absolute firecracker of a game, which saw him collect 24 points and 6 assists. Germany were a +11 team with him on the floor.

Stats don’t lie: Once again, the opponents physicality and size bothered the United States. Germany had 12 offensive rebounds, winning the second chance points 25-8.

Bottom line: The 2006 Semi-Final between Greece and the USA can go to waste now, as Germany and the United States set a new mark for the highest scoring Semi-Final in World Cup history. Coach Gordie Herbert played all his moves perfectly, there was no weak link for his squad in this one.

Coach Steve Kerr warned about this game and this opponent, but even with a stellar offensive performance, the United States could not make it back to the title game. Their last Final was back in 2014, they missed it in two straight World Cup events now.

FIBA