Gilas Pilipinas vs. China: Time, Live Stream for 2017 FIBA Asia Cup

The second day of group play in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup starts with a rematch of the 2015 championship game. Two years ago, host China defeated Gilas Pilipinas 78-67 to win the tournament. On Wednesday, the squads will play their first games of the 2017 event against each other.

Unfortunately, both teams are missing a pair of interior powerhouses. The group from the Philippines is without June Mar Fajardo and naturalized player Andray Blatche, while Yi Jianlian and Zhou Qi will also not be participating.

Which of the teams will start its group play schedule with a win? Let's break down the matchup. But first, we'll review the specifics of the game and how to watch it online.

Time and Live-Stream Information

Date: Wednesday, August 9

Time: 6:30 a.m. ET (1:30 p.m. local time)

Location: Nouhad Nawfal Stadium in Beirut, Lebanon

Live Stream: LiveBasketball.TV

Game Preview

PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/Getty Images

These teams will both be weaker without the giants on either side, and neither should be expected to play as well as it did two years ago. Per Rappler.com, Fajardo's timeline for his calf injury from when he injured it (August 4) lasts about two weeks, which means he might be available right at the end of the tournament. Regardless, he won't be playing Wednesday.

Gilas Pilipinas enters this tournament with an average height of just 6'3", per FIBA.com, which includes the 6'9" size of Fajardo. Their top three returning scorers from the 2015 tournament (Jayson William, Terrence Romeo and Calvin Abueva) are all under six feet tall. That trio has a bunch of skill on the offensive end of the floor, but the lack of size is important.

The pressure will be on players like 6'10" Japeth Aguilar, 6'7" Raymond Almazan and 6'7" Christian Standhardinger to hold their own on the interior against mostly bigger players. Like many of their teammates, Almazan and Standhardinger both have little experience on the international level.

Additionally, the team has had difficulty finding time to practice as a unit because of players' schedules with the Philippine Basketball Association, according to Rick Olivares of Philstar.com. There are a lot of factors stacked against the group.

For what it's worth, Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes remains undaunted by his team's challenges:

China should remain a strong team, despite being without Yi and Zhou and not having a ton of international experience. The squad has an average height of 6'7", which is where we should start when discussing how it matches up against the Philippines.

One potential matchup nightmare to note is Han "Chinese Shaq" Dejun. The Chinese Center is 7'1" and 320 pounds and could eat up Gilas Pilipinas on the boards. There are five other players on the roster above 6'7".

Zhong Zhi/Getty Images

China's best player, though, is 23-year-old Guo Ailun. In May, the 6'4" point guard became the first Chinese player to sign with the Jordan Brand. He's a skilled, quick point guard who dwarfs his counterparts from the Philippines.

Guo (19 points on 5-of-12 shooting) dominated 31-year-old William of the Philippines (eight points on 3-of-14 shooting) in the 2015 championship game. Guo is closer to his prime now, and William is further from his, which means the winner of that matchup shouldn't be any different this time around.

Final Prediction

Gilas Pilipinas will attempt to speed up the pace of the game to take advantage of its high-scoring guards and neutralize the huge rebounding edge China will inevitably have.

Ultimately, though, China's size will be too much. With Guo, there's also plenty of skill in the backcourt to match that of Gilas Pilipinas' backcourt.

Score prediction: China 93, Gilas Pilapinas 70