PASAY CITY (Philippines) - After hosting two thrilling overtime bouts on August 28, the Mall of Asia Arena will remain the epicenter of attraction as Window 4 Group E culminates on August 30.
Tipping off the day, New Zealand (5-2) will be up against Syria (2-5), a contest between two teams on the opposite ends of the spectrum.
The Tall Blacks got their first-ever win over Iran two nights earlier, needing an extra five minutes to put Team Melli away, while Syria endured an understandably lopsided beatdown at the hands of Australia.
The middle game tomorrow promises a more even contest with 5-2 Jordan testing themselves against the perfect 7-0 Boomers.
The Falcons will be keen to put behind them the disappointment of falling achingly short to Philippines, despite leading by nearly 20 points. So their turnaround, both mental and physical, will be something to tune in for.
On their part, led by red-hot Pepper, Australia will look to continue taking care of business, and maintain their status of being the only undefeated team in these Asian Qualifiers.
Finally, the top draw is clearly the Philippines-Iran game. Surprisingly, considering the stature of these Asian heavyweights, they are meeting in major FIBA competition after seven long years. Undoubtedly, this will add extra anticipation to this matchup, in which historically, Team Melli hold a decisive 10-2 edge.
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New Zealand have won their two previous meetings with Syria in the World Cup Qualifiers, both in 2018: the Tall Blacks scored 97+ points in both games and kept Syria below 75 points in each occasion.
James Justice Jr. became on Friday the third player in the Asian region combining 20+ points and 5+ steals in his debut game in the World Cup Qualifiers: he had 21 points and five steals for Syria against Australia.
Australia have won their last 18 games played in the World Cup Qualifiers, with their most recent five fixtures ending with an average margin of 42.8 points; Australia have scored 92 or more points in their last five games, their longest sequence of games with 90+ points in the Qualifiers.
Jordan lost their most recent game in the World Cup Qualifiers but haven’t lost consecutive fixtures in this campaign yet; they have lost two of the most recent three games after winning the previous seven.
After scoring a total of six points across his previous two games in the World Cup Qualifiers, Freddy Ibrahim put up 22 points against New Zealand, his highest scoring performance in the competition; he has dished out 5+ assists in each of his last 13 games in the Qualifiers.
The Philippines have lost their previous two encounters with Iran in the World Cup Qualifiers, both by the exact margin of eight points; Iran were victorious in their sole previous trip to the Philippines in the Qualifiers despite trailing at half-time (78-70, December 2018).
Two of the last three Philippines’s games at the World Cup Qualifiers went into overtime, with Gilas Pilipinas winning the most recent one against Jordan (82-81); they have won seven of their last nine games in the second round of the Qualifiers.
Iran lost their most recent game in the World Cup Qualifiers (91-93 v New Zealand) but are yet to lose consecutive fixtures in this current campaign; Iran conceded 93 points int their last game, against New Zealand, after allowing fewer than 75 points in each of their previous six games in the World Cup 2027 Qualifiers.
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