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The 19th FIBA World Cup is about to enter the second phase for the top 16 teams and the dangerous Dominican Republic team led by the NBA All-Star Karl Anthony-Towns reached it unbeaten. They will take on Puerto Rico next in what promises to be a fiery affair between two Central American nations that always play with a lot of heart.
- Date & Time: Friday, September 01, 2023, 01:00 p.m. GMT
- Venue: Mall of Asia Arena – Manila, Philippines
Dominican Republic vs Puerto Rico basketball predictions
Contents
With both teams playing very fast basketball the excitement is guaranteed. Here are our Dominican Republic vs Puerto Rico basketball predictions.
Prediction 1: Karl-Anthony Towns under 25.5 total points @ 17/20 (1.85)
Karl-Anthony Towns is leading the Dominicans forward and he is the main reason for them winning. However, KAT hasn’t been scoring that much and over the 3 group-stage matches he averaged just 19.3 points per game. Only once Towns scored more than 24 points.
KAT also struggled to score the basket during the NBA season and in the playoffs, his average dropped to below 17 points. All this makes us believe that on all his positive impact for his country, he won’t score 25 points or more.
Prediction 2: Under 178.5 total points @ 1/2 (1.50)
Our second Dominican Republic vs Puerto Rico prediction is that there will be less than 179 total points scored in this match. All of the Dominicans’ 3 group-stage games stayed well below that mark. Puerto Rico saw 2 of their 3 matches have more than 180 points. Those were against very weak defensive teams though and now against A Dominican defence that is yet to allow more than 82 points in a match this scenario seems unlikely.
Dominican Republic vs Puerto Rico preview – Will KAT be the difference-maker?
Now let’s look at the latest Dominican Republic vs Puerto Rico team news.
Dominican Republic news, injuries, and starting lineups
The Dominicans enter their 3rd FIBA World Cup full of hope that they could better their 13th spot from 2014 and 16th from 2019 this time around. After snubbing the national team during several big tournaments the 6-time All-Star Karl Anthony-Towns is back in Dominican colours and he is leading an exciting roster.
The Dominicans already exceeded expectations as they won all of their 3 matches in the group phase and now look set for an almost certain best-ever World Cup finish. None of the matches was easy though and the Dominicans are yet to win by double digits.
They beat the Philippines 87-81, then in a decisive duel edged Italy 87-82 before a shaky display vs Angola saw them win 75-67. The main reason why the Dominicans are perfect so far is their excellent defence.
Dominican Republic injury report:
- No injuries to report ahead of the game and everyone in the 12-man roster seems to be in good health.
Dominican Republic starting lineup:
K-A. Towns, L. Quinones, V. Liz, A. Feliz & A. Delgado
Puerto Rico news, injuries, and starting lineups
Puerto Rico already exceeded expectations by claiming the 2nd spot in their group. The crucial game for the Puerto Ricans was their first match of the tournament against South Sudan. The dramatic duel was eventually won by Puerto Rico 101-96 after overtime and this was why they progressed.
The other win was against the weak Chinese team, scored 107 in that match, but in the one match against a serious contender the going was rough and Puerto Rico lost 77-94 vs Serbia.
From now on everything that happens will be a bonus for the Puerto Ricans and they are not under any huge pressure.
Puerto Rico injury report:
- No injuries to report ahead of the game and everyone in the 12-man roster seems to be in good health.
Puerto Rico starting lineup:
G. Conditt, I. Romero, S. Thompson Jr, J. Howard, T. Waters
Dominican Republic vs Puerto Rico where to watch on TV/live stream
For UK residents the only way to watch the FIBA World Cup live is via the FIBA’s streaming service called Courtside 1891. Basketball fans in the UK can purchase a FIBA World Cup Pass that costs just £21,99 and with it, they will get access to every game from the competition.
The pass also includes extended highlights and top plays highlights. Also, with this option one can watch matches on-demand if two games of interest happen to be playing at the same time.
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