2023 FIBA World Cup: USA Reaches Quarterfinals After Beating Montenegro

The 2023 FIBA Men’s World Cup is underway, and Team USA remained perfect on Friday with a hard-fought 85-73 win over Montenegro in the second round. Anthony Edwards led the way with 17 points, as the Americans moved to 4-0 overall in the tournament and clinched a spot in the quarterfinals. They will conclude the second round on Sunday against Lithuania. 

Opening round group stage play at the tournament wrapped up Wednesday, and 16 of the 32 teams advanced to the second round, which got underway on Friday The second round will then conclude on Sunday ahead of the eight-team knockout stage, which begins on Tuesday, Sept. 5. 

Along with Team USA, the only other undefeated teams remaining in the tournament are Lithuania, Germany and Slovenia, all of whom have punched their tickets to the quarters. There are still four spots up for grabs, which will be decided on Sunday. The biggest game that day features Canada against Spain in a de-facto elimination match after they were each stunned by Brazil and Latvia, respectively, in their second-round ties on Friday. 

While the teams that were eliminated in the first round of the competition can no longer win the World Cup, they are still competing in classification matches to determine the final standings of the event. Those games are still important because they help determine who will qualify for the Olympics and regional Olympic qualifying tournaments. One team battling it out in those rounds is France, who were eliminated in the group stages in stunning fashion. 

Team USA does not have its brightest stars participating in the competition, but the Americans remain favored to win the event. The USA squad (full roster here) is coached by Steve Kerr and led by Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Mikal Bridges. The Americans are looking for a better result than when they finished seventh in the event in 2019. 

FIBA World Cup schedule

All games are streaming on ESPN+. Games on ESPN2 are available on fubo (try for free).

All times Eastern.

Saturday, Sept. 2 (Classification games)

Finland vs. Venezuela, 3:30 a.m.
Angola vs. South Sudan, 4 a.m.
New Zealand vs. Egypt, 4:45 a.m.
Ivory Coast vs. France, 5:45 a.m.
Japan vs. Cape Verde, 7:10 a.m.
Philippines vs. China, 8 a.m.
Jordan vs. Mexico, 8:30 a.m.
Iran vs. Lebanon, 9:30 a.m.

Sunday, September 3 (Second round)
Australia vs. Georgia, 3:30 a.m.
Italy vs. Puerto Rico, 4 a.m.
Greece vs. Montenegro, 4:40 a.m.
Brazil vs. Latvia, 5:45 a.m.
Germany vs. Slovenia, 7:10 a.m.
Dominican Republic vs. Serbia, 8 a.m.
USA vs. Lithuania, 8:40 a.m.
Spain vs. Canada, 9:30 a.m.

Quarterfinals: Sept. 5-6
Semifinals: Sept. 8
Final: Sept. 10

Second round scores

Friday, September 1
Italy 78, Serbia 76
Germany 100, Georgia 73
Latvia 74, Spain 69
USA 85, Montenegro 73
Puerto Rico 102, Dominican Republic 97
Slovenia 91, Australia 80
Lithuania 92, Greece 67

Second round group standings

Note: Opening round group stage results carry over. Teams receive two points for a win and one point for a loss. Tiebreakers are decided by head-to-head record, or point differential if necessary. 

FIBA World Cup odds

• USA: -145
• Canada: +400
• Slovenia: +800
• Germany: +1000
• Serbia: +1200
• Spain: +1600

Spain entered as the defending champion, as Ricky Rubio took home World Cup MVP honors in 2019. The United States last won the event in 2014.

Group-stage results

Friday, August 25
Group A: Italy 81, Angola 67
Group E: Australia 98, Finland 72
Group D: Montenegro 91, Mexico 71
Group H: Latvia 109, Lebanon 70
Group A: Dominican Republic 87, Philipines 81
Group E: Germany 81, Japan 63
Group D: Lithuania 93, Egypt 67
Group H: Canada 95, France 65

Saturday, August 26
Group B: Puerto Rico 101, South Sudan 96
Group F: Georgia 85, Cape Verde 60
Group C: Greece 92, Jordan 71
Group G: Brazil 100, Iran 59
Group F: Slovenia 100, Venezuela 85
Group B: Serbia 105, China 63
Group C: United States 99, New Zealand 72
Group G: Spain 94, Cote D’Ivoire 64

Sunday, August 27
Group A: Dominican Republic 87, Italy 82
Group E: Germany 85, Australia 82
Group D: Montenegro 89, Egypt 74
Group H: Canada 128, Lebanon 73
Group A: Angola 80, Philippines 70
Group E: Japan 98, Finland 88
Group D: Lithuania 96, Mexico 66
Group H: Latvia 88, France 86

Monday, August 28
Group B: South Sudan 89, China 69
Group F: Cape Verde 81, Venezuela 75
Group C: New Zealand 95, Jordan 87 (OT)
Group G: Cote D’Ivoire 71, Iran 69
Group F: Slovenia 88, Georgia 67
Group B: Serbia 94, Puerto Rico 77
Group C: United States 109, Greece 81
Group G: Spain 96, Brazil 78

Tuesday, August 29
Group E: Germany 101, Finland 75
Group A: Dominican Republic 75, Angola 67
Group D: Egypt 100, Mexico 72
Group H: France 85, Lebanon 79
Group E: Australia 109, Japan 89
Group A: Italy 90, Philippines 83
Group D: Lithuania 91, Montenegro 71
Group H: Canada 101, Latvia 75

Wednesday, August 30
Group B: Serbia 115, South Sudan 83
Group F: Georgia 70, Venezuela 59
Group C: United States 110, Jordan 62
Group G: Brazil 89, Cote D’Ivoire 77
Group F: Slovenia 92, Cape Verde 77
Group B: Puerto Rico 107, China 89
Group C: Greece 83, New Zealand 74
Group G: Spain 85, Iran 65

Final group-play standings