Gilas Pilipinas takes on New Zealand in crucial FIBA Asia Cup match

Gilas Pilipinas will take on New Zealand tonight in a crucial match which may determine the Philippines' fate in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup.

The Philippines is coming off a 95-87 loss against Chinese Taipei and eyes to bounce back against the Tall Blacks, while New Zealand hopes to add another win to its record after beating Iraq in their opening game.

Only the top team from each group will directly advance to the quarterfinals, while teams no. 2 and 3 will undergo a playoff for a quarterfinal spot.

READ MORE | Group D standings

"The bottom line is we got New Zealand coming up in two days, and we got to get ready for them. You know, this team has shown a lot of bounce back in the past, and I think we have a really good chance of coming out and playing a better, better game our next time out," Gilas head coach Tim Cone said about the Philippines' upcoming game against New Zealand.

Tall Blacks head coach Judd Flavell, meanwhile, said going against the Philippines, along with Chinese Taipei and Iraq, will also help them in preparation for the tougher stages of the tournament.

"Our pool is tough, but we like that because if we're going to be our best, you know, these teams are going to help us expose some areas in our game that we need to, and in pool play, a great place to do it in pool play to do it against three very good teams, and we have the Philippines next, which we know very much." Flavell said.

"We've just played them in the qualifiers, as well, so we know each other very well, but that's going to help prepare us for the next stages of the tournament. So we're going to embrace that, and, you know, something for us to really look forward to, and, I think, you know, as you get later into those stages, you want to be at your best, so  if we can learn our lessons like we did today, we learned our lessons in the first half, make some adjustments, see the growth from there, and then see where that leads us," he added.

Back in November in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, the Philippines had its first win ever against New Zealand 93-89, but the Tall Blacks bounced back in their February faceoff, 87-70.

Gilas and New Zealand will face off at 11:00 p.m.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News