BEIRUT (FIBA Asia Cup 2017) - Much is at stake when powerhouse Iran collides with unbeaten Jordan in today's pivotal Group A tiff at the FIBA Asia Cup 2017.

Both Iran and Jordan have remained undefeated entering this stage, and the winner of their matchup today gets tickets to the Quarter-Finals, while the losing side will have to play the third place team in Group B. More importantly, though, the victor here will certainly avoid a clash with either New Zealand and Australia up until the tournament Final if ever they reach that far. There's a bit of history between these two West Asia squads, of course, and they have had great battles in the past. By all indications, there does not seem to be any doubt that this game will be hotly contested as well.

Key Matchup: Much has been said about the frontcourt pairing of Hamed Haddadi and Arsalan Kazemi, but it has actually been Mohammad Jamshidi who has been Iran's best player so far. Jamshidi leads the squad in scoring with 17 points a game on top of 5.5 assists, 2.5 steals and an eye-popping 3 triples per contest. Jordan will have to throw a platoon of wingmen at Jamshidi to try and stop him, and that platoon will probably be led by Ahmad Al Hamarsheh and Mousa Al Awadi. Al Awadi will try to outscore Jamshidi with his vaunted outside shooting, while Al Hamarsheh will try to outmuscle Jamshidi. If they fail to limit Jamshidi's production, however, this will be over very quickly.

Key Stat: Rebounding is going to be crucial in this encounter. Both teams have done really well in terms of cleaning the glass, and whoever gets the advantage in the rebounding department here should have the inside track to a win. We are talking about the top two rebounding teams here, so we can expect a bruising and physical battle under the basket for those caroms. The three-headed beast of Haddadi, Kazemi and Oshin Sahakian ahve been doing a terrific job rebounding for Team Melli, and Al Nashama will rely on Al Hamarshe, Yousef Abuwazaneh and Mohammad Shaher Hussein to counter the Iranians.

FIBA