When Tony Parker took France to the semifinals against Spain in Eurobasket 2015, we told you it would be a classic game. As it turns out, we were more right than even we dared to believe. Spain, down 11 points late in the third quarter and eight at the start of the fourth, came all the way back to beat France in overtime to make the Eurobasket Finals and guarantee a spot in the 2016 Olympics. And they did it all on the back of Pau Gasol’s 40-point night.
The dunk above brought Spain to within a point late in the fourth quarter, and after an incredible Nic Batum three to tie the game back up for France before the end of regulation, the overtime period belonged to Pau, who had three straight dunks to seal it:
For all of Pau’s theatrics, France definitely let Spain back in the game with a bunch of fouls early in the fourth quarter to sap the wild energy that was in the crowd for much of the second half. Fans of France probably have a legitimate gripe with the officials, but France also failed to hit shots as Gasol was willing Spain back into the game at the rim and from the free-throw line. Regardless, Rudy Gobert wasn’t pleased with the officiating:
Hard to play when somebody can touch you but you can't touch him! Tough loss it is painfull to lose this way but we will bounce back!! 🇫🇷🇫🇷
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) September 17, 2015
It was an old-school performance, with the Spanish team just feeding Gasol over and over, posting him up and letting him get to the line to run up foul trouble on Gobert, who, despite a couple of blocks, got taken to school more than DPOY prognosticators would think. Gasol even threw up a skyhook to take the lead in the fourth!
Beating the French team in France was sweet revenge for Spain, who got beaten on their home court by this same French team at the FIBA World Cup last year. The whole game had the feeling of a college basketball rivalry, with players often making nervous mistakes and the crowd achieving near chaos throughout. The desire on both sides was palpable, but it was Pau who dominated.
Spain now awaits the winner of Friday’s semifinal between Serbia and Lithuania. The EuroBasket Final will be played on Sunday, with the winner of Serbia and Lithuania joining Spain with automatic bids to the 2016 Rio Olympics
