Faced with a must-win game against powerhouse Australia to advance from Group E at the FIBA Basketball World Cup, Japan head coach Tom Hovasse says his team may need its best shooting performance of the tournament to come out on top.
Having struggled from the floor in its warm-up games and opening World Cup loss to Germany, Japan connected on 52% of its field goal attempts, including 63% inside the arc, during its 98-88 victory over Finland on Sunday.
Bench guards Yuki Kawamura and Keisei Tominaga accounted for eight of Japan's 11 three-pointers, each going 4-from-7 from deep as they spurred the team's comeback from an 18-point deficit at Okinawa Arena.