FIBA World Cup Predictions: Lithuania – Greece (01-09-2023)

Lithuania finished the first round undefeated and confident, winning all three matches by at least 20 points. Friday’s opponent will be the strongest so far at this FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 – but already with one loss against the USA.

On Friday, September 1st, Lithuania will face Greece in the most important match of the tournament so far.

Greece won their last group game against New Zealand 83:74 but was down by as many as 15 points in the second half when they were down 28:43.

Greece won the second half 51:31, which allowed them to celebrate their victory and qualify for the next round. Meanwhile, Lithuania easily defeated Montenegro 91:71 in their most important match.

Even before the championship, there were talks that Lithuania would not be a good defending team, and the main reason for that is the heavy centers and power forwards, who are not easy to rotate in defence.

For this reason, Kazys Maksvytis has to think of different defensive schemes, but at the same time, much more emphasis is put on attack.

Although Lithuania faced little resistance in the first group stage, there were no problems in attack – 93 against Egypt, 96 against Mexico and 91 against Montenegro.

Even in friendlies, Lithuania did well offensively and only against France did they fall short of the 80-point mark. Yes, Greece is a good defending team, and they try to compensate for their lack of talent in attack with solid defence.

In their last game, New Zealand scored 74 points against Greece, reaching the 20-point mark in three out of four games. Having said that, New Zealand and Lithuania should be kept from being compared regarding offensive potential.

Considering that this will be the most important game of the FIBA World Cup for both teams, Lithuania can have many problems defensively, and to win, they need to play as well as they can offensively.

If Lithuania manages to play their own game, it would not be surprising if they score 90 points. Considering that it could be a tough match, we should not rule out the free throws scenario, which could give a few extra points at the end of the game.

This FIBA World Cup 2023 prediction is for guidance only and we are not responsible for your bets.