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

Following an embarrassing loss to Palestine on Wednesday, Gilas Pilipinas bounced back in a big way Thursday in Changsha, China, at the FIBA Asia Championship with a 101-50 drubbing of Hong Kong. 

Hong Kong cruised to a 37-point win over Kuwait in its first game, but Thursday's tilt was a different story, as five Philippines players reached double figures in scoring, including Jayson Castro and his game-high 21 points.

Former NBA center Andray Blatche added 17 points and eight rebounds for Gilas, while only two players cracked double digits in scoring for Hong Kong, and none of them topped 13 points.

The Philippines jumped out to a 12-0 lead to start the game, which was an advantage it would never relinquish. Gilas led by 13 after one quarter, 29 after two and 45 after three before making the final margin 51 by the time the buzzer sounded.

Gilas shot 46 percent from the field and knocked down 14 three-point field goals, while Hong Kong shot a mere 26 percent. The Philippines dominated on the boards, as it outpaced Hong Kong 62-38 in that category.

Here is a look at the game highlights, courtesy of FIBA's official YouTube account:

As Ryan Songalia of Rappler.com pointed out, Gilas Pilipinas played with a purpose against Hong Kong, which wasn't the case in the Palestine game:

Gilas head coach Tab Baldwin agreed and insisted that the difference between his team's performances Wednesday and Thursday was quite simple, according to Musong R. Castillo of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

"Much better effort today," Baldwin said. "Lots of good things come from effort and lots of bad things come from the lack of it. Today, the result speaks for itself. Effort is a choice, today our effort was really good."

Blatche was one of the few Filipino players who performed well against Palestine, and he managed to carry his level of play over into the clash with Hong Kong.

Per Castillo, the former Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets standout felt as though the entire team played to its fullest potential during Thursday's win:

"

I just feel that we did two things differently from yesterday—we hit shots and we rebounded. And another thing, we played with much more heart today than we did yesterday. That was the main reason why we got the easy win. Yesterday we couldn’t close it out. They (Palestinians) played like they wanted the win more than we did.

"

Gilas is now in a more advantageous spot than it was after one game, as it has a win under its belt and a positive point differential of plus-49.

Unless something disastrous happens during its final Group B game against Kuwait, all signs point toward Gilas finishing in the top three and moving on to the second round.

According to Carlo Pamintuan of Sports5, however, Baldwin stressed the importance of his team not resting on its laurels:

Gilas has a long journey ahead in its pursuit of a berth in the 2016 Summer Olympics, but its fans are feeling much better about the team's chances now.

The Palestine loss appeared to be a rock-bottom experience for the Philippines, but it rose quickly and re-established itself as one of the top contenders in China.

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