Thunder star leads dominant Canadian World Cup debut

Oklahoma City's point guard had a dominant first game of the FIBA World Cup, putting up 27 points, 13 rebounds and six assists in Canada's dominant win over France. The Canadians outscored Les Bleus 25-8 in the third quarter on the way to a 95-65 victory.

It's especially impressive because France is loaded with current and former NBA players, like three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert and Clippers forward Nic Batum. While they're playing without young big man Victor Wembanyama, this is the same team that finished second at last year's EuroBasket, also without Wemby.

SGA outrebounded all players, including Gobert, and did it all while only turning the ball over once. His cousin, the Minnesota Timberwolves' Nickell Alexander-Walker, led all players with four three-pointers coming off the bench for Canada, while Kelly Olynyk of the Utah Jazz had 18 points.

Perhaps the most shocking was Dillon Brooks going 5-6 from the field with a pair of dunks while still playing relentless defense.

With Brooks and Lu Dort on the wings, Canada has the ability to stifle opposing offenses. Even if Brooks is so unpopular that he's even getting booed in Southeast Asia.

The top two teams from the Americas qualify for the Paris Olympics. By crushing their biggest rivals, Canada is in excellent shape to make it out of their group and into the second round. But if they keep playing defense like this, they'll be a serious threat to win the World Cup.