Spain passed their first acid test in 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup after scoring an impressive 82-63 win against Brazil at the Palacio Municipal in Granada, Spain.
Pau Gasol had another outstanding performance as he finished with a game-high 26 points to go along with nine rebounds, leading Spain to a convincing win in their most difficult game of the tournament so far.
"It was the first opponent that we could measure our potential in the tournament. I am really pleased with the team game," Gasol said after Monday's game.
Sergio Rodriguez added 12 points, while Juan Carlos Navarro added 10 points and four assists for the Spanish side, which had a total of 17 assists that helped them shoot 50.8 percent from the field and 54.3 percent from beyond the arc.
"We knew it was about time. We just tried to play out game, sharing the ball and find the wide open guy," said veteran point guard Jose Calderon. "We know guys who can play inside and teams are going to collapse down there. So, we have to be ready to shoot the ball."
Spain will take a break on Tuesday before facing defending European champions France on Wednesday in game that could decide who will end up on top of Group A after the preliminary stage.
Meanwhile, the Philippine national team, Gilas Pilipinas, put up another gallant stand before absorbing their third loss in as many games in their first World Championship stint in four decades.
Philippines nearly erased a 15-point deficit to pull off an upset, but Argentina made key defensive stops down the stretch to escape with an 85-81 win, improving their record to 2-1 in Group B.
Luis Scola was slowed down by foul trouble, but still managed to finish with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Marcos Mata had 17 points and nine boards, and also knocked down five three-pointers in the match.
Andray Blatche, on the other hand, had a double-double for Philippines with 14 points and 15 rebounds, while Ranidel De Ocampo led the team in scoring with 18 points.
Visit this link for the complete result and schedule. Match highlights can be seen here.
