Group B's Chile, Paraguay advance in FIBA Basketball World Cup Americas Pre-Qualifiers

SANTIAGO DE CHILE (Chile) - The 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Americas Pre-Qualifiers completed Group B on Thursday with the top team cruising to yet another victory and Paraguay grabbing the final spot for the regular qualifiers via a three-way tiebreaker.

Here are the results and analysis from Chile:

Paraguay 77, Bolivia 49
On Tuesday, Paraguay dominated the first quarter before being edged by three points by Nicaragua. Then, the club played Chile tight in their second game on Wednesday before only losing by four points.

The team finally put it all together in game three, though, as they not only dominated the matchup and had their most complete performance yet, but they ended Bolivia's dreams of moving onto the regular qualifiers and advanced themselves, thanks to their point differential.

Edgar Riveros showed out for Paraguay, dropping 17 points on a highly efficient 6-of-11 shooting, while Bruno Zanotti nearly recorded a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds. Overall, Paraguay dominated all aspects of the game, including a stellar 28 points in the paint and nearly 40 points from their bench.

After a promising effort on vs. Nicaragua, Bolivia fell flat on offense for the second straight time this week. They couldn't buy a basket from both the field and from beyond the arc, missed key free throws and didn't take care of the ball. They didn’t look prepared for the high pressure situation, proving inconsistency and inexperience to be their true Achilles heels.

Chile 82, Nicaragua 63
Without Nico Carvacho again, Chile cruised past Nicaragua to complete the pre-qualifiers with a 3-0 record and the top spot in Group B. While Chile already clinched a berth in the next round of World Cup qualifying on Wednesday, momentum wasn’t hard to find as they pulled away from Nicaragua in the second half and dominated for the majority of the evening.

Nicaragua could’ve grabbed the second spot in Group B, but ultimately, Chile's ball movement, shooting and constant cuts on the offensive end was too much to handle. Lacking a true inside presence without Carvacho didn’t change much of Chile’s approach. They were discipline and technically sound within their offensive schemes.

Most importantly, they proved they can win the big games even without arguably their top player and certainly their best inside presence.

Meanwhile, Nicaragua has to be disappointed with how things finished in Santiago. Their promising opening night victory over Paraguay was washed away by a brutal defensive effort vs. Bolivia and a rather flat outing vs. Chile. There will be lessons to learn, but they missed out on a strong opportunity to grow their basketball program.

FIBA