Spain opened its FIBA World Cup tournament against Iran and defeated them in a blowout fashion.
Iran hung in the first three minutes of the game, but Spain pulled away, thanks to an 11-0 run led by Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro.
Spain spread the game open from that point on, ending the first period with a 27 to 18 lead.
NBA costless agent big man Hamed Haddadi was carrying Iran in the first half doing a bit of everything, but Pau Gasol and Spain were too much for Haddadi.
Gasol continued his fine play in the second quarter, but his brother Marc Gasol was rather quiet on the offensive end in the first half. Nevertheless, Spain took a 48 to 33 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Marc Gasol was the one who came out strong in the second half, scoring eight of his 15 points in the third quarter. Marc received helped from fellow teammates Pau, Rudy Fernandez, Ricky Rubio, and Jose Calderon.
Spain picked up its defense even more in the final quarter, holding Iran to 10 points, and finishing out the game with a 30-point victory.
Pau Gasol’s 33 points was the highest scoring output for the entire day. He also grabbed 8 rebounds. Marc Gasol finished with a double-double. Fernandez had 12 points, and Navarro added 10.
For Iran, Haddadi had a wonderful game putting in 16 points and vacuuming in 15 rebounds. However, Mahdi Kamrani led the team in scoring with 18.
Spain held Iran to 39 percent shooting from the floor. Though, Iran hit 40 percent of its threes. Iran had 20 turnovers, but Spain took care of the ball considerably well with only 12 giveaways.
Spain will take on Egypt in its next game tomorrow, August 31st, at 4 pm Eastern Time.
Iran will have another tough game on Sunday against Brazil at 12 pm Eastern Time.