Latvia's Andrejs Grazulis shined bright on Sunday to lead his country to an impressive 84-104 triumph over Brazil at the Indonesia Arena in Jakarta and into the FIBA Basketball World Cup quarterfinals. The Dolomiti Energia Trento forward erupted for 24 points and 5 assists to pace the winners. The victory lifted Latvia to 4-1 and secured it top two finish in Group L. Latvia will face either Slovenia or Germany in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
A breakout for Grazulis
After averaging 10.8 points and 1.3 assists for a performance index rating of 13.5 through his first four appearances in the tournament, Grazulis more than doubled that output against Brazil. Moreover, he did so with outstanding shooting numbers; Grazulis made 9 of 12 two-point shots and 2 of his 3 three-point tries. His PIR of 30 and his scoring tally were the highest in the game.
Grazulis comes off a strong season with Trento in which he averaged 8.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 18 EuroCup games. It was his second season in the competition. Now after playing such a big role for Latvia, expectations for his second campaign with Trento will be even higher.