Latvia is a debutant team which reached the FIBA World Cup quarterfinals.
By the end of Latvia's morning practice on Thursday, Kristaps Porzingis was at the end of the court doing shooting practice. He was at the sidelines of Wednesday's game when Germany beat Latvia, 81-79, to reach the FIBA World Cup semifinals.
Porzingis was unable to suit up for Latvia for the tournament after being diagnosed with plantar fasciitis in his foot.
So he could only watch as Davis Bertans, who already had 20 points and made 6-of-13 3-pointers, get the rebound and pull up for what would have been a game-winner for Latvia with seven seconds left. Bertans missed.
Reporters asked Porzingis after his training, could he have imagined taking that shot?
"Who knows? Anybody could've made that shot," he replied. "Davis was our best option. This guy's an insane shooter, probably one of the best in the world, making crazy shots. So we trust him 1,000% to take that shot."
"Of course it hurts, my heart dropped in that moment. But I wouldn't change that shot for anything else," he added. "If he made that shot, it would have been something out of a movie. That's all we can ask for."
Latvia has another shot at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but they would have to go through the rigorous qualifiers.
First, they need to bounce back in the classification matches.
"Of course we feel heartbroken, we've had a great run," captain Dairis Bertans, Davis' brother who has also been sidelined at the start of the tournament due to a hamstring injury, told One Sports. "We were so close to making it to the top four."
"Extremely proud of the guys. We want to do the best games possible. Today's gonna be tough. Yesterday was so much emotions out there. Now it's gonna be more mental than physical to compete today."
(GM)