Wembanyama puts on show as France staves off Brazil 78-66 in Olympics opener

VILLENEUVE-D’ASCQ, France (AP) — Victor Wembanyama walked out to a star’s welcome for his Olympic debut. He made sure to give France’s fans plenty to cheer about.

Wembanyama marked his start of the Paris Games with all the dunks, defense and other eye-popping plays that have made the 20-year-old appointment viewing during his young basketball career.

More importantly for France, it added up to a victory for the host nation.

Wembanyama had 19 points, nine rebounds, four steals and three blocks to help France overcome an early deficit and hold off Brazil 78-66 to open the group stage at Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Lille.

Nicolas Batum added 19 points for France, which was showered with chants of “Le Bleus!” to join Germany as winners in Group B on the opening day of the tournament in Lille.

France next plays Japan, which lost Saturday to Germany, on Tuesday. Brazil has Germany next.

Leo Meindl and Cristiano Felicio both led Brazil with 14 points.

France withstood a fast start by Brazil and used a late first-half run led by Wembanyama, then outscored the Brazilians 18-9 in the third quarter to increase what had been a three-point halftime lead to 57-45 entering the fourth.

While the crowd was buzzing at the outset for the host team, Brazil tamped down some of that energy early, scoring first and building a 12-point lead in the second quarter.

The initial highlights nearly all belonged to the Brazilians. They included a first-quarter fast break that ended with a lob from Leo Meindl to Joao Cardoso, who delivered a two-handed, poster-perfect dunk over Rudy Gobert.

France made a push late in the second quarter, closing the half on a 24-9 run that included 11 points by Wembanyama. The flurry was highlighted by a block and twisting left-handed dunk by Wembanyama over Gui Santos.

France’s final bucket was a 3-pointer by Evan Fournier that sent France to halftime with a 39-36 lead.

Australia 92, Spain 80

In the days before Australia was set to open the Paris Olympics against Spain, coach Brian Goorjian looked to the past.

He made his team watch one of the Aussies’ most painful moments in international play — a double-overtime loss to the Spaniards in the semifinals of the 2019 World Cup.

“We showed a little video of the past to have them locked in,” Goorjian said. “There’s a fear that no matter how much you outwork or outplay, in a three-minute period they can go ‘whack, whack, whack’ and you’re in trouble.”

It turned out to be just the jolt his team needed.

Jock Landale had 20 points and nine rebounds, and Australia beat Spain 92-80.

Patty Mills added 19 points and Josh Giddey contributed 17 to lift Australia to the victory in Group A, which also includes Greece and Canada. Australia next meets Canada on Tuesday while Spain will face Greece.

“They made two heavy runs at us and then took the lead. I thought we were fearless and were courageous, and I thought we had great guard play,” Goorjian said. “Just a good contribution from everybody.”

Santi Aldama finished with 17 points for Spain. Sergio Llull added 17 for the Spaniards, who connected on 12 3–pointers but shot 39% overall from the field for the game at Pierre Mauroy Stadium.

The Aussies’ momentum was disrupted by a heated exchange late in the first quarter.

With 2:13 remaining in the period, Spain’s Usman Garuba set a hard screen on Australia’s Josh Green, sending him stumbling backward. Green took exception and got in Garuba’s face. Garuba slapped Green’s hand away and Will Magnay stepped in to defend his teammate, prompting Garuba to shove him.

Referees reviewed the incident and accessed double unsportsmanlike fouls on Garuba and Magnay.

Two more incidents also resulted in brief game stoppages.

Germany 97, Japan 77

Franz Wagner had 22 points and six rebounds, and Germany pulled away from Japan in the second half to secure a win in Group B play.

Daniel Theis added 18 points and seven rebounds. Moritz Wagner added 15 points for the defending World Cup champions, who never trailed. Germany has Brazil next in group play on Tuesday. Japan takes on Olympics host France.

Germany had five players in double-figures.

“I think we kind of got a target on our back after last year’s success (in the World Cup),” Theis said. “Everybody wants to beat the world champion.”

Rui Hachimura finished with 20 points for Japan, which has only 13 wins in its seven Olympic appearances.

“We know we’re organized, so we have to get together,” Hachimura said. “We’ve got to know what we’re doing.”

Germany entered the Olympics ranked third in FIBA’s world rankings behind the the U.S. and Spain.

It played like it against the Japanese, never trailing and taking a 16-point lead in the second quarter. The Germans scored 46 points in the paint and also got a big contribution from their bench, which contributed 38 points.

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