Mexico City – If ever a young Canadian national team was under the impression that qualifying for the 2016 Olympics would be a formality, they surely know now that it won’t be.

Already old man Luis Scola had delivered them a kidney shot as he led Argentina to victory in Canada’s debut at the 2015 Tournament of the Americas. And Friday another FIBA Americas stalwart, Puerto Rico’s Juan Jose Barea – all five-foot-seven of him – was determined to land a head shot prior to Canada’s 112-92 win.

The victory was big, as they all are in any FIBA tournament, where the tension builds layer by layer. It means Canada will enter the second round with a 3-1 record and seven points, trailing only undefeated Mexico and Argentina when they meet the four advancing teams from Group A in second-round play beginning Sunday.

With Brazil eliminated the competition is simplified: make it to the finals at the Palacio De Los Deportes next Saturday night and they make it to the Olympics in Rio next summer.

But it was a big win too because it required a fight, and teams that fight together internationally are the teams that win.

Barea and a scrappy if undermanned Puerto Rican team always fight. And they came closer to landing a decisive blow than the score suggested. With 2:15 left in the second quarter Canada was trailing 44-35.

“In the one timeout [with 2:36 left] we asked them: we need to win the … whatever it was on the clock,” said Canadian head coach Jay Triano. “We were getting outplayed and we were getting outworked, basically. We gave up three offensive rebounds off of free throws because they wanted it more.”

His young team responded and finished the second quarter on an 11-0 run and started the third on a 13-4 run to blow the game open.

It was the expected result, but the edge teams play with at these events means nothing is guaranteed and casual won’t cut it.

Canada didn’t play casual. The got key performances from key players. Andrew Wiggins led them in scoring, with 19 points. Kelly Olynyk continued to find his all-round game, finishing with 15 points, nine rebounds and four assists and, impressively, no turnovers while providing some paint protection on defence. Nik Stauskas (15 points and four assists) is gathering steam. Anthony Bennett (nine rebounds) is hoovering rebounds.

And they got huge games from role players. Team captain Cory Joseph (15 points, five assists) was very good starting, but when he was on the bench in foul trouble Phil Scrubb, most recently starring in the CIS for Carleton, helped Canada to their decisive third-quarter run, finishing with 10 points and three assists. Overlooked Rob Sacre put in 10 good minutes, filling the gap left by Dwight Powell’s injury (a strained elbow, he is expected to be available Sunday) and some front-court foul trouble.

But make no mistake, Canada was looking shaky before that. In the moments before their comeback Wiggins missed a pair of free throws, air-balling one; six-foot-10 Andrew Nicholson lost a rebounding battle against Javier Gonzalez, who might be five-foot-10; Cory Joseph air-balled a wide-open three and Nicholson picked up an offensive foul on a Canadian fastbreak. Canada’s poise seemed to be teetering.

And if Barea (20 points, seven assists) wasn’t the author of their misfortune – on the whole Canada did a good job containing him, which is like containing an superball – it’s evident Puerto Rico takes their lead from him, an undersized, undrafted player who competes with a chip on both shoulders.

The Dallas Mavericks reserve is a FIBA superstar. The 2015 Tournament of the Americas are his 26th FIBA event.

The Canadians can learn from him. He’s big fans of theirs.

“They have amazing potential,” said Barea. “The great thing about them, I’ve played with a bunch of them, they’re great, great, guys. Great teammates, when I play with them in the NBA, they’re awesome. I play with Dwight [Powell] now, he’s a great, great kid. They could go all the way up. They have a lot of ground to cover still, but if they keep it close, if they keep that group together for the next couple of years, they could be the best team.”

But they have to survive this tournament first. The scariest moments came as a result of not anything Puerto Rico did, in the end, but due to some slippery corporate logos in the middle of each key that almost took down Wiggins on one fast break and Olynyk on another possession, who was almost forced into an uncomfortable split.

“If I fall, I fall,” said Wiggins, which is perhaps the only attitude he can have, but likely sends chills up NBA commissioner Adam Silver’s spine.

Triano wants it dealt with but recognizes it’s unlikely to happen in the short term.

“It’s not the first tournament where this has happened, it’s something that’s dangerous and I hope, pray, all the players on all the teams don’t have someone slip on that [and get hurt],” said Triano. “If you catch an edge on that thing you slide. It’s something I hope becomes a topic of concern and people address it.”

In the immediate term Canada focused on the task at hand, which was a game, if undersized Puerto Rico team. Coming off a rest day and with Canada playing their fourth game in four days, Puerto Rico spread the floor and rained threes. It was their only hope. They were 5-of-9 from deep in the first quarter, the main reason they trailed just 24-23 after 10 minutes.

Puerto Rico ended the first quarter 5-of-9 from deep – the room that threat created was candy for Barea. He threw his body into Scrubb to draw the foul while finishing an off-balance lefty layup as he’s done thousands of times, as Peurto Rico trailed Canada 24-23 after the first quarter.

Canada, meanwhile, struggled from beyond the arc. They were 1-of-10 from deep when Stauskas finally knocked down a corner three to give Canada a 35-32 lead with four minutes gone in the second quarter.

And then Puerto Rico went on their run. Canada got back in the game by being bigger and stronger and determined to use their advantages. Their 11-0 run to finish the half featured nine free throws and a buzzer-beating jumper by Scrubb, in for Joseph who had picked up his third foul.

Scrubb stayed in to start the second half and Canada picked up where they left off, sparked by a dunk and then a three by Bennett, with Scrubb looking comfortable running the show. With a little breathing room Canada began to flow. Bennett found Stauskas for a three in transition and then Stauskas found Wiggins and suddenly Canada was up by 14 on the strength of a 24-4 run.

And suddenly Canada had another moment they can refer to if they need to respond in situations that will only get tougher from here on in.

“This has to matter to our guys and I was really pleased with how they responded,” said Triano. “I thought we grew up in that last 2:30 or 2:50 or whatever it was. And at half time we challenged our guys.”

It wasn’t a must-win game for Canada, but it was more of a can’t lose. It means Canada can head into the second round of the competition with some breathing room and some momentum.

Canada got a taste of what a desperate team plays like and they responded with some desperation of their own.