Four teams dispute last two semis tickets in FIBA World Cup

Serbia and USA were the first two teams to punch their tickets to the 2023 FIBA World Cup semifinals after disposing of Lithuania and Italy in their respective quarterfinal matches on Tuesday.

And four more teams will attempt to catch the semis bus as unbeaten Germany takes on Latvia at 4:45 p.m. while fancied Slovenia tangle with another heavyweight in Canada at 8:30 p.m. all at the Mall of Asia Arena for the final day of the quarterfinals.

Germany is protecting an unbeaten 5-0 slate so far, defeating Georgia and Slovenia in the second round. Prior to that, the Germans swept the first round after knocking down host Japan, Australia, and Finland to go 3-0.

Bannered by four active NBA players in Dennis Schroder, Daniel Theis, and brothers Franz and Mo Wagner, Germany is currently third in field goal percentage with 52.4-percent behind Serbia (55.0) and USA (53.1). It's also third in assists with a total of 127 dimes dished through five games.

Schroder, who will suit up for the Toronto Raptors this NBA season, paces the squad in points and assists with 19.8 markers and 6.8 dimes.

They will look to continue with this stellar showing against a Latvia side, which closed out the second round with an impressive 4-1 card behind Dairis Bertans, Rodions Kurucs, and Arturs Zagars.

Meanwhile, Slovenia is tipped to lean once more on Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic, who has been carrying the squad as he averaged 26.4 points per game, 7.4 rebounds, and 6.8 assists, all of which are team-high numbers.

The Slovenians, though, are coming off a tough loss to Germany last September 3 after falling with a 100-71 loss.

And Canada is out to take advantage. The Canadians, for their part, are fresh from a big win against Spain, coming away with an 88-85 win to dethrone the defending champions.

Canada, which has the third most number of NBA players, is bannered by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dillon Brooks, Kelly Olynyk, Lu Dort, Dwight Powell, and RJ Barrett.

Gilgeous-Alexander leads Canada in points, rebounds, and assists with 23.8 markers, 6.6 boards, and 5.2 dimes.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News