WITH tournament hosts Japan and the Philippines axed from second-round contention at the 2023 Fiba World Cup, the classification phase could ultimately decide the Olympic chase for Asian squads.
READ: Italy rediscovers shooting touch, slams World Cup door on Gilas
Ahead of Gilas' crushing loss to Italy, Japan could not pull off another home miracle after an 89-109 defeat to a vengeful Australia side in Okinawa on Tuesday.
Josh Giddey rose to the occassion at the Land of the Rising Sun with 26 points, 11 assists, and five rebounds to slam the door on the Akatsuki's World Cup hopes.
Washington's ace forward Xavier Cooks was a revelation for the Boomers off the bench with 24 markers and 16 boards.
Just like its opening loss to Germany, the Japanese cagers did not have a single taste of the lead in the match. Australia, meanwhile, wreaked havoc on the hosts and even took a 27-point edge en route to the win.
As it stands ahead of the classification phase, Japan has the solo lead for the lone Asian Olympic berth after a historic breakthrough over Finland.
With this, at least one win in the closing matches could spell the difference for Gilas' Olympic hopes against the likes of Japan, China, Iran, Jordan, and Lebanon.
The scores:
Australia (109) - Giddey 26, Cooks 24, Green 15, Kay 13, Mills 11, Reath 8, Ingles 5, Exum 5, White 2, Daniels 0, Thybulle 0, Goulding 0.
Japan (89) - Hawkinson 33, Watanabe 24, Togashi 14, Tominaga 8, Baba 5, Kawamura 3, Hiejima 2, Nishida 0, Hara 0, Inoue 0, Yoshii 0, Kawamata 0.
Quarterscores: 25-17; 57-35; 87-70; 109-89.
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