“Keep Fighting Until The End” | Fontecchio And Markkanen Shine; Olynyk And Clarkson Fall; Kessler Helps Team USA Stay Perfect

Whether it be pride, preparation for the 2024 Tokyo Summer Olympics qualifying, or hoping to win a medal, the competition is as high as ever for the five Utah Jazz players competing at FIBA World Cup 2023. 

Walker Kessler and Simone Fontecchio helped their teams pick up massive wins in the second round. At the same time, Lauri Markkanen showed why he’s one of the top players in the world after leading Finland to a huge victory in the classification round. Unfortunately, Jordan Clarkson and the Philippines stayed winless despite another close battle, and Kelly Olynyk and Canada suffered their first tournament loss. 

UNITED STATES 85 | Montenegro 73After rolling through their opening round with a perfect 3-0 record and average margin of victory of 37 points per game, Team USA knew the competition would get much stiffer — and bigger — heading into the second round. 

And that’s precisely what the Americans got on Friday morning against Montenegro. 

It was clear that Montenegro would try to slow the pace down and use their size and strength to push Team USA around. That happened in the first half as the Americans trailed by one, 38-37, at the break. But everything changed in the second half as Team USA found a rhythm on both ends, able to speed up the tempo that led to easy buckets in transition. 

Anthony Edwards was the primary catalyst, finishing with 17 points — all in the second half — as they built a double-digit lead in the final few minutes to seal the win. Kessler only saw limited action again, but made the most of it by finishing with four points, one rebound, and one block in just under six minutes. 

Having already clinched a spot in the quarterfinals, Team USA will face Lithuania (4-0) on Sunday morning at 6:40 a.m. MT. It’s a big game as the winner will clinch the top seed and have an easier path to the medal games. 

ITALY 78 | Serbia 76One of Utah’s best attributes last season was that the Jazz — no matter the deficit — always found a way to make things tight in the fourth quarter. Whether or not they pulled off the comeback, Utah proved it was a team that would fight to the end and never give up. 

Turns out Fontecchio has taken that same mentality and brought it to the Italian national team. In one of the best games in the tournament thus far, Italy stormed back from a 16-point deficit to stun undefeated Serbia and keep their medal aspirations alive. 

It was an excellent start for Italy as they jumped out to a four-point lead after the opening 10 minutes, but it was all Serbia from there. Over the next quarter-and-a-half, Serbia outscored the Italians 41-21 to take that massive advantage midway through the third. 

However, Italy had an answer, and his name was Fontecchio. He helped Italy storm back as they used a 32-11 run to lead by five with just under two minutes to play. After Serbia knocked down a three with 50 seconds remaining, Fontecchio hit the dagger, a jumper with 30 seconds left to seal the win. 

Fontecchio finished a game-high 30 points (9-of-11 shooting), adding seven rebounds and three assists. Italy will now face Puerto Rico (3-1) on Sunday at 2:00 a.m. MT with a spot in the quarterfinals at stake — win and you’re in. 

“We are really happy about the win. … We really did an amazing job as a team, especially in the third quarter down 16,” Fontecchio said postgame. “We never gave up. … This simply shows the heart of this team, the will of this team. We don’t care how bad we are playing, we just keep playing, keep fighting until the end.”

FINLAND 100 | Cape Verde 77Despite being Finland’s leading scorer throughout the tournament, Markkanen’s efficiency hasn’t been where it usually is. But on Thursday morning, the reigning NBA’s Most Improved Player gave a vintage performance, leading Finland to their first victory at the FIBA World Cup.

In control from the opening tip, Markkanen scored Finland’s first three buckets as they took an early 6-5 lead over and never looked back. He finished with 11 points in the opening 10 minutes, showing his toughness with a dunk while being fouled.

Leading by 12 after the first quarter, Finland kept pushing and eventually led by 15 heading into the break. Knowing what’s at stake, they kept their foot on the gas to lead by 21 after three and cruise to the finish (no pun intended). 

Markkanen finished with 34 points (12-of-19 shooting), nine rebounds, and two blocks. The Susijengi will now face Venezuela (0-4) with a chance to advance to the next stage of the classification round, tipoff is set for Saturday at 1:30 a.m. MT.

Brazil 69 | CANADA 65While Fontecchio may have played in one of the most exciting games of the tournament, Olynyk and Canada suffered one of the more shocking defeats when they fell to Brazil on Friday morning. 

It was a slow start for Canada as they couldn’t find the bottom of the net and trailed by three after the first quarter. But things changed in the second when Canada again looked like a dominant team by outscoring Brazil 24-11 to lead by 10 at the half. 

The third quarter was a back-and-forth affair, with each team trading buckets, allowing the Canadians to keep their 10-point lead. But the momentum changed when Brazil’s Lucas Dias knocked down a buzzer-beating three to trim the deficit to seven entering the fourth. Brazil rode that storm until the end by outscoring Canada 24-13 over the final 10 minutes to pick up the huge win. 

Olynyk finished with nine points and seven rebounds. In a win-or-go-home game, Canada will now face reigning world champions Spain on Sunday morning (7:30 a.m. MT). 

South Sudan 87 | Philippines 68In what’s been a difficult tournament for one of the host nations, Gilas Pilipinas suffered their worst defeat of the past week when they fell to South Sudan on Thursday morning. 

South Sudan got off to one of the hottest starts of the tournament when they jumped all over the Philippines to lead 34-17 after one. After exchanging buckets for much of the second quarter, the Philippines trailed by 18 at the break. 

However, Clarkson and co. never gave up. They locked down on the defensive end and half South Sudan to just nine points in the third, and after scoring 17 in the quarter, cut the deficit to 10 entering the final 10 minutes. Most importantly, they had all the momentum. 

The Philippines kept chipping at the deficit, eventually cutting it in half with six minutes remaining and igniting the home crowd. But South Sudan answered, closing the game on a 23-9 run to keep the host nation winless. 

Clarkson continued his strong tournament when he finished with a game-high 24 points, adding four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. The Gilas Pilipinas will close the tournament when they face China (1-3) on Saturday morning at 6:00 a.m. MT.