RJ Barrett led all scorers with 24 points in the victory. He shot 8-for-14 from the floor and added seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. His 24 points were the most by a Canadian at the Olympic Men’s basketball tournament since Steve Nash had 26 points in 2000.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander overcame early foul trouble to finish with 16 points on 8-for-10 field goals, adding four rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocked shots in 26 minutes, while Dillon Brooks scored 16 points. Lu Dort added 11 points while playing stellar defence in the second half as Canada pulled away.

Canada’s defensive pressure in the second half helped to force Australia into 18 turnovers in the game, while Canada had 11 miscues of their own. Canada held a 28-10 advantage in points scored off turnovers.

"I think we came back with a purpose in the third quarter," Fernández said. "We did a great job, 22 deflections in the second half, only 16 points in the paint allowed and that ignited our offence. The way we ran the floor, we scored a lot off of their turnovers. It starts with the defence.”

“The resiliency and how relentless this group is [was the difference],” Fernández said. “The way they fought in the second half, Lu Dort was amazing. Dillon was amazing. I think Khem Birch gave us great minutes, Dwight [Powell]with nine rebounds. It was a great team effort. It wasn’t perfect, but for game two, we’re still growing, and we’re about to face one of the best programs in the world.”

The men's next game (vs Spain) is Friday at 11:15 am ET. The women's next game - hopefully a bounce back one after a blowout loss to France to start the group phase 0-1 - is Thursday at 7:30 am ET and they'll take on Australia.