Gilas Pilipinas vs. Palestine: Score, Reaction from 2015 FIBA Asia Championships

In a shocking and disappointing start to their run at the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship, Gilas Pilipinas were upset Wednesday 75-73 by Palestine in Changsha, China.  

Palestine relied on a short bench of seven players with only four of them scoring points, but it was enough to shock the Philippines as Jamal Abu-Shamala led all scorers with 26 points to go along with 15 rebounds. Sani Sakakini added 22 points and 11 boards.

Former Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets center Andray Blatche was the go-to guy for Gilas as he dropped 21 points and nabbed 12 rebounds, but he received limited support from his teammates as Terrence Romeo scored 11 points and Jayson Castro netted 10.

Gilas Pilipinas were heavily favored to win Tuesday after finishing second at the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship. The Palestinians were making their FIBA Asia Championship debut, and they made a big statement in the process.

After the loss, Philippines head coach Tab Baldwin was blunt about the situation, according to Musong Castillo of the Philippine Daily Inquirer: "We're embarrassed and we should be. Give Palestine credit."

As seen in this graphic, courtesy of Sports5 on Twitter, Gilas had seemingly every advantage on paper as Palestine entered the game without a FIBA ranking:

That manifested itself in the first quarter as the Philippines stormed out to a 27-12 lead, but Palestine made it clear that it wouldn't go away as it cut the deficit to 45-40 entering halftime.

Gilas led by four at the start of the fourth quarter, and they began to pull away as they opened up a 70-59 advantage, but the never-say-die Palestinians kept fighting as they went on a 10-0 run after the Philippines went up 71-62.

Abu-Shamala, who is American-born and played at the University of Minnesota, put Palestine on top with a three-point dagger with just 1:38 remaining.

Blatche helped Gilas regain the lead, but an old-fashioned three-point play by Sakakini was the difference. The Philippines had a chance to tie or take the lead on the final possession of the game, but as seen in this video, courtesy of FIBA, Sakakini came through with the game-winning block on Blatche:

After Gilas' loss, Ryan Songalia of Rappler.com could barely believe his eyes:

Riccardo Fois of NBADraft.net attempted to put the significance of Palestine's come-from-behind win into context:

The defeat was a bad one in terms of confidence for the Philippines due to its status as one of the top contenders for a spot in the 2016 Summer Olympics, but it isn't necessarily devastating to its chances.

As pointed out by former Filipino national team coach Chot Reyes, Gilas are still very much alive in the tournament:

Three teams advance out of each group, and since the Philippines is in a group with a couple of other lower-level teams in the form of Hong Kong and Kuwait, things can certainly be turned around in a hurry.

Gilas must only finish in the top three out of four in its group to move on to the second round, and they are currently in that position as Kuwait was blown out by Hong Kong.

Provided Gilas win out and Palestine loses to either Hong Kong or Kuwait, they can still win the group as well, which would likely help the players and coaches put Tuesday's loss behind them.

According to Marisse Panaligan of GMA News, Baldwin is confident in his team's ability to get back on track: "Fortunately we have the whole tournament to rectify that mistake, fix it, get ourselves back where we belong, winning games and putting ourselves in a position to move into the playoff round of this tournament."

Gilas won't go far if they continue to play like they did Tuesday and rely almost solely on Blatche, but their play at recent events, such as at the William Jones Cup, suggests they can still be a threat.

The game against Palestine was a learning experience and a warning that the Palestinians may be a more dangerous squad than anyone expected, and it should assure that the Philippines won't take anyone lightly moving forward.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter.