MIES (Switzerland) - So, who will complete the Second Round picture?
There are still lots of possibilities set to unfold but the July 3 games shall help provide the answer to that, as the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers' opening round heads into the home stretch.
With Australia and the Philippines the first to advance, the six teams in contention from Groups A and B will be vying for the four remaining tickets, making this particular gameday all the more crucial.
New Zealand and Guam are hoping to become the third team from Group A to reach the Second Round, while all four East Asian contenders in Group B are still in contention - hence, the 'Group of Death' tag.
Friday's games begin in Auckland as New Zealand hosts Gilas at the Spark Arena at 19:00 local time, followed by a duel between Australia and the still-winless Guam at the RAC Arena over at Perth at 18:30 local time.
Group B teams will then close out the night, with Korea and Chinese Taipei duking it out at the Goyang Gymnasium at 19:30 local time before rivals China and Japan lock horns once again at 19:30 Shenyang time.
Who you got?
Did you know?
New Zealand are unbeaten in their three games against the Philippines in the World Cup Qualifiers, winning by an average margin of 24.7 points and holding Gilas Pilipinas to under 70 points in each of those encounters.
New Zealand lost their most recent game at home in the World Cup Qualifiers (77-79 v Australia) putting an end to a run of nine consecutive victories; overall, the Tall Blacks have already lost two games in the World Cup 2027 Qualifiers but have never tallied more defeats in a single campaign.
The Philippines have lost their most recent two games in the Qualifiers but are yet to lose more on the bounce in the competition; they have scored fewer than 75 points in each of their last two games, including against New Zealand (66 points in February) but have never had a longer such run.
Australia are undefeated when playing at home in the World Cup Qualifiers, winning their 13 such games by an average margin of 29.3 points and keeping their opponents below the 80 points mark in every game.
Guam are still looking for their first victory in the World Cup Qualifiers: they have lost their four games by margins of more than 12 points and have allowed more than 90 points in each of their most recent three.
Australia have scored 90+ points in 13 different games in the World Cup Qualifiers, while only Canada have had more such games than them in the competition worldwide (20, before this qualifying window).
Elijah Pepper has scored 20+ points in each of his last two games for Australia in the World Cup Qualifiers, yet no Boomers player has ever recorded more 20-point performances in the competition.
Korea have lost their two most recent games in the World Cup Qualifiers, including the reverse fixture against Chinese Taipei (65-77); however, they have never lost three consecutive games in the competition.
Chinese Taipei have won just one of their last 13 games in the World Cup Qualifiers, but it was precisely the reverse fixture against Korea (77-65); they will try to win multiple games in a single campaign for the first time in their three participations.
Korea have allowed their opponents to score only 5.5 shots from 3P range, the best defensive average of any team in the Asian region in the World Cup 2027 Qualifiers before this window started.
China are undefeated against Japan in the World Cup Qualifiers, winning their three games by an average margin of 18.7 points per game; China won the reverse fixture despite facing a 15-point disadvantage, their biggest comeback victory in the competition.
China have been trailing at the end of the first half in each of their four games in the World Cup 2027 Qualifiers: they managed to win their most recent two encounters (v Japan & Chinese Taipei) after losing their first two against Korea.
Japan have won eight of their last nine games in the World Cup Qualifiers, but the only defeat in that span was precisely against China in the reverse fixture (80-87).
SMART Fantasy League
FIBA