Gilas Pilipinas vs. Hong Kong: Time, Live Stream for 2015 FIBA Asia Championship

Having lost their opening preliminary round game of the tournament, Gilas Pilipinas will look to get back on track at the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship on Thursday morning in Changsha, China, when they take on Hong Kong.

Gilas were one of the top favorites entering the event after they finished runners-up to Iran at the 2013 Asia Championships. But in their first game, they were victims of what could turn out to be the biggest upset of the tournament, losing 75-73 to Palestine.

Although the top three teams from each group advance to the second round, the Philippines can ill afford another defeat, thus putting a ton of importance on their result against Hong Kong, which handily defeated Kuwait 87-50.

Given the stakes, Philippines vs. Hong Kong should be a gripping affair.

Schedule

Date	Time	Live Stream
Wed., Sept. 23	9:30 p.m. ET	LiveBasketball.tv

Preview

Many eyes were on Andray Blatche in the Philippines' first game, and the nine-year NBA veteran didn't disappoint in terms of overall numbers, picking up 21 points, 12 rebounds and two assists. Blatche did, however, struggle in the second half, as noted by T.J. Manotoc of ABS-CBN:

It's perhaps no coincidence the Philippines were outscored 35-28 in the third and fourth quarters against Palestine.

Allowing Blatche to attempt seven three-pointers isn't an ideal strategy for Gilas considering he was a career 37 percent shooter on two-pointers beyond 16 feet and 23.7 from behind the arc in the NBA, per Basketball-Reference.com.

The finish to the Palestine game was rather fitting as Sani Sakakini blocked Blatche's long-range effort in the dying seconds:

Along with a more efficient showing from Blatche, Gilas will need to be have a much better night on the boards. They were out-rebounded 58-53 by Palestine and allowed their opponents to have 23 offensive rebounds.

"You just can't let teams continue to get so many possessions," said Gilas coach Tab Baldwin after the game, per Nelson Beltran of the Philippine Star. "They (Palestinians) have 83 shots in a game. In a 40-minute game, that's unheard of; that's two a minute."

In order to win the battle of the boards, Jean Marc Pingris can't get into foul trouble again. He played just six minutes and 38 seconds, which allowed Palestine a much easier time on the glass.

Maybe Pingris will receive a little more leeway from the referees, which Carlo Pamintuan of NMFTV.com highlighted as a problem against Palestine:

For Hong Kong, victory will be much easier to attain if the trio of Lee Ki, Duncan Reid and Leung Shiu Wah carry over their strong performances from the Kuwait game.

Ki was only 5-of-15 shooting in the win but did a little bit of everything on the court, collecting 15 points, three rebounds, an assist and three steals. Leung provided the three-point scoring, hitting each of his three shots from deep and finishing with 12 points. Reid, meanwhile, did the dirty work underneath the glass, scoring 13 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

For Ki and Reid, Thursday's game is a chance for revenge. Gilas beat Hong Kong 67-55 in the second round of the 2013 Asia Championship, and they were both on the floor for that game. Reid was a big reason Hong Kong was even competitive as he had 12 points and 19 rebounds. Ki, on the other hand, was 0-of-4 from the field with three assists and three rebounds.

Hong Kong allowed Gilas to shoot 50 percent on two-pointers in that defeat, something that can't be repeated this time around.

Getting a read on the overall quality of Hong Kong in this tournament is a little difficult since Kuwait provided little resistance. A win Thursday morning would cement the team as one of the major contenders in the 2015 Asia Championship.