Greece vs Montenegro FIBA World Cup 2023, September 3: Date, time, where to watch and live stream details
Greece faces Montenegro in the second game of the Second Round of the FIBA World Cup 2023. This is the finale for both national teams in the tournament, following their elimination from the quarter-finals.
Both teams had to win their respective matches on Friday to keep their chances alive for a Top-8 finish. However, they came up short.
The Greeks played very well in the opening half vs Lithuania (32-40) and stayed close until the end of the third (61-58), but collapsed in the fourth and lost by 25 (92-67).
The Lithuanians relied on their defense in the second half to take control and outscore their opponents 53-24, and 28-9 in the final quarter. Lithuania advanced to the Top-8, while Greece will return home on Monday, as there are no classification games for 9-16 spots.
Similarly, Montenegro had to beat Team USA to maintain a Top-8 push in the FIBA World Cup, but the Americans were too much for them in the second half.
The Montenegrins were in control in the first half (37-38) and stayed competitive until late in the fourth (59-55, 72-68). But, the Americans closed the game on a 13-5 run and never looked back to seal the deal (85-73).
Team USA and Lithuania will face each other on Sunday for the top spot of the group heading into Tuesday's quarter-final.
Greece vs Montenegro FIBA World Cup Game Details
Date: Sunday, September 3
Time: 4:40 a.m ET
Venue: Mall of Asia in Manila, Philippines
Thomas Walkup leads the way for Greece in minutes played (30.3) and assists (7.5) while averaging 13.3 points. He has been one of the best Greek players in the FIBA World Cup, but coach Dimitris Itoudis is expected to reduce his minutes vs the Montenegrins since this is the final game in the competition for the team.
Thomas Walkup had 21 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and a PIR of 22 on 8/20 shooting against the Lithuanians while staying on the floor for 33 minutes.
The other two top players of Greece, Giannoulis Larentzakis (15.8 points ppg) and Ioannis Papapetrou (14.5 points ppg), should also see reduced minutes on Sunday. Papapetrou played 34 minutes on Friday.
On the contrary, Chicago Bulls big man Nikola Vucevic leads the way for Montenegro in PIR (25.0), minutes played (27.5) and points (20.0), while Kendrick Perry is the top guard of the squad with 13.5 ppg and 5.5 apg.
Meanwhile, Bojan Dubljevic has struggled significantly in the FIBA World Cup, averaging just 5.3 ppg to go with 4.8 rpg and his poor performance has cost his team.
Greece vs. Montenegro where to watch
In the United States, ESPN+ will stream this matchup, but a subscription is needed to watch it.
In a similar way, Courtside 1891 will stream the game for FIBA, but this platform also needs a subscription.
What to expect in Greece vs Montenegro game
This is the final game in the FIBA World Cup for both teams, so we should expect a fun-to-watch matchup, as Greece and Montenegro will look to end their respective campaigns in a winning way.
If Vucevic and Perry see significant minutes on the floor, Montenegro will have the upper hand in the game, especially if Thomas Walkup has some reduced playing time here. We should take Montenegro to win this one.