# 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Group A

Group A was one of eight groups of the preliminary round of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. It took place from 25 to 29 August 2023 and consisted of Angola, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, and Italy. Each team played each other once, for a total of three games per team, with all but two games to be played at the Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City, Philippines. The top two teams advanced to the second round and the bottom two teams qualified for the classification rounds.
Following the venue change for the final phase to the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, FIBA announced that the first two games of Group A would take place at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, the original venue for the final phase.

## Teams

| Team | Qualification | Qualification | Appearance | Appearance | Appearance | Best performance | WR |
| Team | As | Date | Last | Total | Streak | Best performance | WR |
| Angola | African Group E top two | 25 February 2023 | 2019 | 9 | 6 | 9th place (2006) | 41 |
| Philippines | Host nation | 9 December 2017 | 2019 | 7 | 3 | 3rd place (1954) | 40 |
| Dominican Republic | Americas Group E top three | 26 February 2023 | 2019 | 4 | 3 | 12th place (1978) | 23 |
| Italy | European Group L top three | 14 November 2022 | 2019 | 10 | 2 | 4th place (1970, 1978) | 10 |

## Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | L | PF | PA | PD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Dominican Republic | 3 | 3 | 0 | 249 | 230 | +19 | 6 | Second round |
| 2 | Italy | 3 | 2 | 1 | 253 | 237 | +16 | 5 | Second round |
| 3 | Angola | 3 | 1 | 2 | 214 | 226 | −12 | 4 | 17th–32nd classification |
| 4 | Philippines (H) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 234 | 257 | −23 | 3 | 17th–32nd classification |

## Games

All times are local (UTC+8).

### Angola vs. Italy

This was the third game between Angola and Italy in the World Cup and their second consecutive matchup. The Italians won the first two meetings in 1990 and 2019.
* 25 August 2023 16:00
* Boxscore
| Angola | 67–81 | Italy |
| Scoring by quarter: 17–23, 23–20, 17–18, 10–20 |||
| Pts: Dundão 19 Rebs: five players 5 Asts: Gonçalves 4 | | Pts: Fontecchio 19 Rebs: Polonara 7 Asts: Spissu 7 |
* Philippine Arena, Bocaue Attendance: 21,214 Referees: Guilherme Locatelli (BRA), Kerem Baki (TUR), Martin Vulić (CRO)

### Dominican Republic vs. Philippines

This was the first game between the Dominican Republic and the Philippines in the World Cup. The Dominicans won in the 2020 FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade, which was the last competitive game between the two teams.
The match broke the record for the most attended FIBA World Cup match with 38,115 coming to the venue. This surpassed the 1994 FIBA World Championship final in Toronto between the United States and Russia which was witnessed by an audience of 32,616 people.
* 25 August 2023 20:00
* Boxscore
| Dominican Republic | 87–81 | Philippines |
| Scoring by quarter: 22–18, 20–24, 24–22, 21–17 |||
| Pts: Towns 26 Rebs: Towns 10 Asts: Feliz 8 | | Pts: Clarkson 28 Rebs: Clarkson, Fajardo 7 Asts: Clarkson 7 |
* Philippine Arena, Bocaue Attendance: 38,115 Referees: Yohan Rosso (FRA), Leandro Zalazar (ARG), Gatis Saliņš (LAT)

### Italy vs. Dominican Republic

This was the first game between Italy and the Dominican Republic in the World Cup. The Italians won in the semi-finals of the 2020 FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Belgrade, which was the last competitive game between the two teams.
* 27 August 2023 16:00
* Boxscore
| Italy | 82–87 | Dominican Republic |
| Scoring by quarter: 19–13, 20–25, 17–31, 26–18 |||
| Pts: Spissu 17 Rebs: Melli 7 Asts: Spissu 4 | | Pts: Feliz, Towns 24 Rebs: Towns 11 Asts: Montero 9 |
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 6,298 Referees: Gatis Saliņš (LAT), Luis Castillo (ESP), Georgios Poursanidis (GRE)

### Philippines vs. Angola

This was the second game between the Philippines and Angola in the World Cup. The Angolans won the first meeting in 2019, which was the last competitive game between the two teams.
* 27 August 2023 20:00
* Boxscore
| Philippines | 70–80 | Angola |
| Scoring by quarter: 19–12, 14–24, 19–20, 18–24 |||
| Pts: Clarkson 21 Rebs: Fajardo 7 Asts: Clarkson 7 | | Pts: Gonçalves 17 Rebs: Bango, Fernando 7 Asts: Domingos 7 |
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 12,784 Referees: Guilherme Locatelli (BRA), Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT), Martin Vulić (CRO)

### Angola vs. Dominican Republic

This was the first competitive game between Angola and the Dominican Republic.
* 29 August 2023 16:00
* Boxscore
| Angola | 67–75 | Dominican Republic |
| Scoring by quarter: 11–20, 21–17, 18–12, 17–26 |||
| Pts: De Sousa 19 Rebs: De Sousa 9 Asts: Dundão 7 | | Pts: Feliz 17 Rebs: Liz 8 Asts: Solano 4 |
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 4,769 Referees: Guilherme Locatelli (BRA), Luis Castillo (ESP), Martin Vulić (CRO)

### Philippines vs. Italy

This was the third game between the Philippines and Italy in the World Cup and their second consecutive matchup. The Italians won the first two meetings in 1978 and 2019.
* 29 August 2023 20:00
* Boxscore
| Philippines | 83–90 | Italy |
| Scoring by quarter: 23–20, 16–28, 21–25, 23–17 |||
| Pts: Clarkson 23 Rebs: Edu 8 Asts: Clarkson 6 | | Pts: Fontecchio 18 Rebs: three players 6 Asts: Spissu 9 |
* Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 11,821 Referees: Yohan Rosso (FRA), Leandro Zalazar (ARG), Mārtiņš Kozlovskis (LAT)

## Statistical leaders
### Player tournament average

| # | Player | Pld | Pts | PPG |
| 1 | Jordan Clarkson | 3 | 72 | 24.0 |
| 2 | Karl-Anthony Towns | 3 | 58 | 19.3 |
| 3 | Andrés Feliz | 3 | 53 | 17.7 |
| 4 | Simone Fontecchio | 3 | 50 | 16.7 |
| 5 | Bruno Fernando | 3 | 40 | 13.3 |
| # | Player | Pld | Rebs | RPG |
| 1 | Karl-Anthony Towns | 3 | 23 | 24.0 |
| 2 | Silvio De Sousa | 3 | 19 | 6.3 |
| 2 | A. J. Edu | 3 | 19 | 6.3 |
| 2 | Nicolò Melli | 3 | 19 | 6.3 |
| 5 | June Mar Fajardo | 3 | 18 | 6.0 |
| # | Player | Pld | Asts | APG |
| 1 | Jordan Clarkson | 3 | 20 | 6.7 |
| 1 | Marco Spissu | 3 | 20 | 6.7 |
| 3 | Andrés Feliz | 3 | 15 | 5.0 |
| 3 | Jean Montero | 3 | 15 | 5.0 |
| 5 | Gerson Domingos | 3 | 14 | 4.7 |
| 5 | Childe Dundão | 3 | 14 | 4.7 |
| # | Player | Pld | Blks | BPG |
| 1 | Nicolò Melli | 3 | 5 | 1.7 |
| 2 | A. J. Edu | 3 | 4 | 1.3 |
| 2 | Bruno Fernando | 3 | 4 | 1.3 |
| 4 | Gerson Gonçalves | 3 | 3 | 1.0 |
| 4 | Jean Montero | 3 | 3 | 1.0 |
| # | Player | Pld | Stls | SPG |
| 1 | Víctor Liz | 3 | 9 | 3.0 |
| 2 | Childe Dundão | 3 | 6 | 2.0 |
| 3 | Bruno Fernando | 3 | 5 | 1.7 |
| 3 | Gerson Gonçalves | 3 | 5 | 1.7 |
| 3 | Jean Montero | 3 | 5 | 1.7 |
| # | Player | Pld | Mins | MPG |
| 1 | Jordan Clarkson | 3 | 112 | 37.6 |
| 2 | Dwight Ramos | 3 | 89 | 29.9 |
| 3 | A. J. Edu | 3 | 89 | 29.7 |
| 4 | Andrés Feliz | 3 | 88 | 29.6 |
| 5 | Simone Fontecchio | 3 | 88 | 29.3 |
| # | Player | FTM | FTA | FT% |
| 1 | Achille Polonara | 3 | 13/14 | 92.9 |
| 2 | Jordan Clarkson | 3 | 21/23 | 91.3 |
| 3 | Karl-Anthony Towns | 3 | 24/27 | 88.9 |
| 4 | Simone Fontecchio | 3 | 11/13 | 84.6 |
| 5 | Víctor Liz | 3 | 7/9 | 77.8 |
| # | Player | FGM | FGA | FG% |
| 1 | Andrés Feliz | 19 | 30 | 63.3 |
| 2 | Bruno Fernando | 15 | 31 | 48.4 |
| 3 | Víctor Liz | 14 | 29 | 48.3 |
| 4 | Karl-Anthony Towns | 14 | 35 | 40.0 |
| 5 | Dwight Ramos | 11 | 28 | 39.3 |
Efficiency
| # | Player | Pld | MPG | PPG | Eff | EffPG |
| 1 | Víctor Liz | 3 | 29.6 | 17.7 | 71.0 | 23.7 |
| 2 | Karl-Anthony Towns | 3 | 27.2 | 19.3 | 56.0 | 18.7 |
| 3 | Jordan Clarkson | 3 | 36.8 | 24.0 | 55.0 | 18.3 |
| 4 | Marco Spissu | 3 | 27.4 | 11.7 | 50.0 | 16.7 |
| 5 | Nicolò Melli | 3 | 27.3 | 7.7 | 48.0 | 16.0 |