Team Canada takes down China for second straight 3×3 basketball win
Canada’s 3×3 basketball squad has won both their matches at Paris 2024 after a dominant 21-11 win against China.
The Canadians showed why they’re medal contenders after handling one of the world’s top teams with relative ease on Wednesday.
Michelle Plouffe and Paige Crozon led the way with 7 points each in the win, as Canada shot 54% from inside the arc, and 42% from the two-point line.
As in in their opening game against Australia, Canada got off to a hot start and created havoc with their defence.
READ: Team Canada secures first ever Olympic 3×3 win against Australia
China was forced into 10 turnovers, many of which led to clean looks on offence for Canada. The Chinese shot just 13% from the two-point line.
China, who returned three of the players that won bronze in 3×3’s Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020, was held off the board for the first minute as Canada jumped out to a 3-0 lead.
Shooting specialist Crozon showed how big of a problem she poses for teams, as she buried two two-pointers early in the game to make it 6-1 Canada.
The Plouffe sisters — Michelle and Katherine — added two more two-point shots midway through the period to gain some separation. Despite being the smallest player on the court, Kacie Bosch had two key offensive rebounds to keep possession, one of which she grabbed off of her own miss to catch the defence off-guard for an easy lay-up.
With the score 18-11 Canada, Crozon nailed her third two off of a steal to bring Canada to game point. That was followed by another steal by Katherine Plouffe who found Michelle wide open under the basket to clinch win number two.
“It’s great start… I think we’re doing awesome,” said Katherine Plouffe. “Making history in a lot of different ways. It feels good to get two Olympic wins off the bat.”
“It’s great to have two wins to start the tournament,” said Bosch. “China is an awesome team, so big, so physical. We had a lot of energy and were able to get some defensive stops which helped us down the stretch.”
Canada now sits atop the 3×3 pool and are the first team to two wins.
In 3×3, the two best teams will qualify to the semifinals, while the next four best qualify to the play-in games. There are eight countries competing for a medal in the 3×3 tournament.
Canada will play five more games in pool play, with the next one coming against No. 4 Germany Thursday at 3:30 a.m. ET.