Gilgeous-Alexander outplays Doncic to send Canada to World Cup semis

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 31 points to outduel Luka Doncic and send Canada to the Basketball World Cup semifinals for the first time ever with a 100-89 win over Slovenia today in Manila.

The Canadians, who on Sunday clinched their country's first Olympic men's basketball berth since 2000, will face Serbia on Friday at 4:45 a.m. ET.

Today's Canada-Slovenia quarterfinal was billed as a showdown between Gilgeous-Alexander and Doncic — both All-NBA First Team guards last season and the two highest scoring players remaining in the World Cup. Some feel SGA, despite considerably less hype, is the better player. They can point to today's matchup as evidence.

It was a classic Doncic game in almost every sense. The Dallas Mavericks scoring machine led Slovenia with 26 points, but he jacked up 20 shots to get there and went just 4-for-14 from two-point range while not bothering to play much defence. With 6½ minutes left in the fourth quarter and a Slovenia comeback still possible, Doncic was automatically ejected after receiving his second technical foul for complaining about not getting a call. Arguing with the refs is something he does all too often in the NBA as well.

Slovenia went on an 8-1 run immediately after Doncic was tossed, cutting its deficit to nine points with four minutes left. But they never got any closer as their three-point shooting went cold (they could have used their star here) and Gilgeous-Alexander's steady hand helped right the Canadian ship.

WATCH | Canada dominates Slovenia en route to World Cup semis:

Gilgeous-Alexander's 31 points