MAR DEL PLATA (Argentina) – The Argentinian National Team is getting back two of their best stars, forward Gabriel Deck and shooting guard Nicolás Laprovíttola, as they head into their last game of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Americas Qualifiers.

The South American squad (8-3) will host Dominican Republic (8-3) this Sunday, February 26th, at Polideportivo Islas Malvinas in Mar del Plata (21:10 local time), in a Group E contest where the winner qualifies to the World Cup.

Deck and Laprovíttola will join point guard Facundo Campazzo to complete the stellar trio that led Argentina to winning the 2022 FIBA AmeriCup last summer and that was crucial, alongside retired veteran Luis Scola, in reaching the gold medal game at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in China.

The arrivals of Deck and Laprovíttola greatly increase the odds for Pablo Prigioni's squad, especially on the offensive end. Both players led the offensive categories at the last FIBA AmeriCup, scoring 21.2 and 16.5 points per game, respectively. Furthermore, Deck was the tournament's MVP.

In these Americas Qualifiers, Deck and Laprovíttola played in two games, a loss to Canada and a win over Bahamas last August. In those two matchups, Deck averaged 26.5 points and 4.0 rebounds, while Laprovíttola had 16.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.0 steals.

During the current season in Spain's ACB league, Real Madrid's Deck is averaging 7.7 points and 4.6 rebounds in 20.7 minutes per game, while Barcelona's Laprovíttola averaged 13.4 points (46 percent from beyond the arc) and 3.6 assists in 22.8 minutes.

FIBA