Brooks and Doncic were both ejected in the fourth quarter.
Basketball at the highest level from both sides was on full display in the FIBA World Cup quarterfinal matchup between Canada and Slovenia on Wednesday.
Most of it took place in the first half when the battle was neck and neck. As soon as Canada went on a furious second-half run, however, the Slovenians started to lose their composure. Luka Doncic got disqualified with less than seven minutes to go for excessive complaining and that’s all she wrote for the European squad.
That being said, a member of the Canadian crew was also thrown out by the refs. Luka’s main defender Dillon Brooks got his second technical foul early in the fourth but fortunately for him, his teammates stepped up and delivered the W. During the match, it was clear from the crowd reactions that Luka was the fan-favorite and Brooks was the heel.
After the contest, those who watched the heated encounter still can’t get over what took place.
Over on X (formerly Twitter), Bill Simmons commented on the Doncic-Brooks drama and gave high praise to Canadian superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
“Canada/Slovenia was hilarious — just a heroic battle between Luka and Dillon Brooks to see who would get kicked out first. Also, SGA was the best guy on the court. Yeah I said it,” the veteran sportswriter tweeted.
Did PBA star Alex Cabagnot just spend 85,000 pesos to watch Luka live? Well, that’s what his tweet implied. Maybe he took his family and the entire sitio of Pulang Bato with him.
“That was worth all 85k. #lukamania.”
Netizen @ontwerpy seemed to be taking Doncic’s side regarding the officiating as he tweeted a photo of a referee with a blindfold.
“The refs during the game,” his caption said.
Another fan in @downtowndow echoes the sentiment.
“Refs take down Slovenia to make the Semi-Finals of the World Cup for the first time ever,” he stressed.
To balance things out, here’s an individual who seemed to be highly impressed and completely sold on the Canadian squad.
“This world championship is Canada's to lose,” @EuroGupper said.
Canada is not set to face Serbia in the semis on Friday. Catch the rest of the FIBA World Cup action on One Sports, One Sports+, or through the Pilipinas Live app.