September 3 preview: Win or go home. Second Round reaches its pinnacle

MANILA (PHILIPPINES) - FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 has reached the point of no return: whoever wants to take part in the Final Phase at the Mall of Asia Arena must win on Sunday.

It's impossible to predict anything about Groups I and L with all eight teams still in contention to advance to the Quarter-Finals for a chance to compete for the Naismith Trophy. Meanwhile, in Groups J and K we have four teams vying to remain perfect and enter the final stretch as the top seeds.

Who will book flights from Jakarta?

Brazil and Latvia suffered heavy second-half defeats against Spain and Canada respectively in the First Round. It appeared that their point differential won't do them any favors in the Second Round.

What do they do? Recover and show fantastic effort against both group winners to keep their fate in their own hands.

The calculators can be left at the hotel as Brazil and Latvia meet in a winner-takes-all game that might even end in one of them winning Group L. 

To avoid any surprises, are you sure you know the Latvian players well? Click here for more insights about one of the Cinderella stories of the tournament.

Most pundits might have had both Spain and Canada in the Quarter-Finals. Or even further than that. But one of those teams will head home very disappointed. Will it be Canada's overwhelming fast break potency or the seemingly unbreakable consistency of Spain that wins out? If you want to go deeper in the analysis, please read this piece.

These two Group L matchups might be instant classics in the making.

Four teams to stay in the Philippines

The fact that two teams competing in Group I will stay in Manila and two of them will be heading back home is about the only thing that's clear.

All the details of who is who will be answered on Sunday.

With Italy and Puerto Rico squaring off, do Simone Fontecchio and Tremont Waters have one more Top Performer type of game in them? Fontecchio has stoked fear in each team he's faced, while Waters already has two games with at least 10 assists. 

If you want to know more about the Italian gunslinger, you should read this portrait.

Dominican Republic and Serbia will decide the other team to advance from Group I a couple of hours later.

Life can be cruel in these major events. Just two days ago both were 3-0 and we couldn't even begin to count the number of amazing performances by Bogdan Bogdanovic, Karl-Anthony Towns, Nikola Jovic and Andres Feliz.

Look out for the battle underneath the baskets! Both teams rank in in the top five for free throws attempted thanks to their capable big men, ability (and willingness) to crash the glass and aggressive mindset.

For more on this formidable duel, you should read why Dominican Republic is a medal contender and the portrait of Serbia's flagbearer Bodgan Bogdanovic.

Classic matchups to decide group winners

We saw it last year in the Group Phase of FIBA EuroBasket 2022. They also met in the Quarter-Finals of Tokyo 2020.

Can Slovenia beat Germany for the third year in a row in a major FIBA event? The stakes might not seem as high, but these might be the two most impressive European teams in this World Cup and it will be thrilling to see them matching up on the court once more.

Of course, Lithuania also have something to say about that sentence. They've yet to win by less than 20 points and have dismantled Greece and Montenegro along the way.

By the way, Jonas Valanciunas and Brandon Ingram are NBA teammates. But they won't be friends on September 3.

Not that anybody would have them as favorites against USA, but the Green Machine have been one of the few teams to have success against USA in the past. Lithuanians fondly remember the victory in the 2004 Sydney Olympics and the 1998 World Cup.

USA will also want to get back into their rhythm after Montenegro gave them their toughest challenge yet in Manila.

Other storylines for September 3

• We say goodbye to Australia until Paris 2024 and appreciate the splendid play of World Cup rookies Georgia for one last time.

• Greece had higher expectations, while Montenegro reached the Second Round in their second-ever World Cup. The tournament wouldn't be the same without them as they step on the court for one more time in the Philippines.

FIBA