While group play is still ongoing, Tuesday's Olympic basketball game between France and Japan felt like a medal was on the line.
France needed overtime to avoid a major upset, pulling away late for a 94-90 win over Japan. Before things made it to the extra period, the ejection of Japanese star Rui Hachimura set off a wild sequence of back-and-forth play for the final 8:31 of regulation.
Why was Hachimura ejected and what happened after? Here is more on the wild sequence that immediately stands as an instant classic at this year's tournament.
MORE: Ranking Team USA's biggest threats at the Paris Olympics
Why was Rui Hachimura ejected?
Hachimura was ejected after picking up his second unsportsmanlike foul with 8:31 remaining in the fourth quarter. In FIBA competition, two unsportsmanlike fouls result in an automatic ejection.
Rui Hachimura was ejected after his second unsportsmanlike foul pic.twitter.com/KVudLE90Gw
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) July 30, 2024
At the time of his ejection, Hachimura had just drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to bring his total to 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting.
Thanks in large part to Hachimura's play, Japan, which entered the game as a heavy underdog, trailed by just two points and appeared to have a legitimate shot of upsetting the host team.
Olympics foul rules, explained
Here is more on FIBA's rules around unsportsmanlike fouls:
Unsportsmanlike fouls are used to describe what NBA fans have come to know as transition take fouls, clear path fouls, and flagrant fouls. In FIBA, those fouls all fall within the unsportsmanlike umbrella.
A player can be disqualified with two technical fouls, two unsportsmanlike fouls, or a combination of five fouls that include one flagrant or one unsportsmanlike call.
MORE: Explaining the major differences in Olympic basketball rules
France vs. Japan ending, highlights
After Hachimura was ejected, Japan briefly fell by five points before going on an incredible run. With 6:23 remaining in regulation, France led 77-72 before Japan scored eight unanswered points to lead 80-77 with 1:06 left.
Just as it appeared that France could not get anything going offensively, Evan Fournier tied things up by hitting a massive stepback 3 with 50 seconds remaining in regulation.
Three seconds later, Japan's Yuki Kawamura drew a foul and sank both free throws to put Japan back up by two. After Fournier and Victor Wembanyama couldn't get looks to go, France intentionally fouled Kawamura, who sank two more free throws to give Japan an 84-80 lead with 16 seconds left.
Then things got really wild.
With 10 seconds remaining, French guard Matthew Strazel hit an acrobatic 3-pointer while drawing a foul on Kawamura. Strazel coolly stepped to the line to complete the 4-point play, tying things up and placing France in position to force overtime.
MATTHEW STRAZEL SENDS THE GAME TO OVERTIME WITH A 3+1 PLAY 🤯🇫🇷 #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/Efcuc0CXa5
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) July 30, 2024
After Kawamura was unable to get the potential game-winning 3-pointer to go, things headed to overtime where Wembanyama put his stamp on the game.
Wembanyama opened the extra frame with an and-one, setting up a personal 8-0 run to bring his team-high total to 18 points and put France ahead by three possessions.
Of course, Japan fought back, responding with a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to two points with eight seconds left. Unfortunately for Japan, there wasn't enough time to complete the overtime comeback as two free throws from Strazel iced the game.
Over the 13:31 after Hachimura's ejection, both Japan and France went on multiple runs, but Wembanyama's overtime takeover proved too much for Japan to overcome.
