TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – FIBA World Cup 2023 or the FIBA World Cup 2023 will officially take place in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia on Friday, August 25, 2023. Eight matches will take place throughout the first day of competition, two of which involve the hosts.
The men’s basketball teams of Japan and the Philippines both started their group stage with negative results. Japan, who are part of Group E, suffered an earlier defeat when they hosted Germany at the Okinawa Arena.
Yuta Watanabe and his friends managed to keep up with Germany at the start of the first quarter. However, the visiting team was able to quickly escape the pressure and continued to lead until they finally won 81-63. Moritz Wagner was the top scorer in this match with 25 points for Germany, five points ahead of Yuta Watanabe who was the points machine for Japan.
The Philippines men’s basketball team also suffered defeat when they hosted the Dominican Republic, both of whom are in Group A. In front of 38,115 spectators at the Philippine Arena, the home team actually achieved a rather solid performance. Led by Jordan Clarkson, Gilas Pilipinas was able to keep up with the Dominican Republic who relied on Karl-Anthony Towns.
Both teams took turns leading the points until the middle of the fourth quarter. The Dominican Republic, which appeared calmer in crucial moments, finally managed to win the match with a final score of 87-81.
Karl-Anthony Towns was the best performer for the FIBA Americas representative as he recorded a double-double of 26 points and 10 rebounds. Meanwhile, from the Philippines camp, Jordan Clarkson was no less impressive, scoring 28 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Unfortunately, the Utah Jazz player’s brilliant performance was not enough to take the Philippines to victory on the first day of the FIBA World Cup 2023.
Moving to Jakarta, the big game was presented at the Indonesia Arena when two men’s basketball teams in the top 15 of the FIBA rankings faced off. France (#5) and Canada (#15) competed fiercely from the start and took turns leading the points until the end of the second quarter.
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However, the atmosphere of the match changed dramatically after halftime. Canada, led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, is slowly leaving France behind. On the other hand, France seemed to have difficulty getting out of the pressure. The 2015 and 2019 FIBA World Cup bronze medalist scored just eight points in the third quarter.
Canada, already far ahead, was very free to control the match until it finally ended the French resistance with a crushing score of 95-65. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who played 27 minutes 19 seconds, played brilliantly for Canada, scoring 27 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.
With tonight’s victory, Canada has valuable capital to advance to the second round as one of the representatives of Group H playing in Indonesia.
Here is a recap of the match results FIBA World Cup 2023 which will take place on Friday August 25, 2023.
Group A – Angola 67-81 Italy
Group E – Finland 72-98 Australia
Group D – Mexico 71-91 Montenegro
Group H – Latvia 109-70 Lebanon
Group A – Dominican Republic 87-81 Philippines
Group E – Germany 81-63 Japan
Group D – Egypt 67-93 Lithuania
Handle H – Canada 95-65 France
Editor’s Choice: Shin Tae-yong is grateful that the U-23 national team qualified for the 2023 AFF U-23 Cup final despite many obstacles
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