2023 (February) FIBA Intercontinental Cup

Result

Games

Final context

The 32nd edition, and the last played in the tournament's original February window before the competition's slot on the calendar shifted permanently to September later that same year, took place February 10-12, 2023 at the Santiago Martin arena in San Cristobal de La Laguna, Tenerife -- the third time the Canary Islands club had hosted the event. Lenovo Tenerife (Basketball Champions League champion) headlined a field that also included Sao Paulo of Brazil (FIBA Americas League champion), the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (NBA G League champion), and Tunisia's US Monastir. The tournament had originally been planned to include an Asian representative via the Asia Champions Cup, but that qualifying competition was cancelled because of lingering COVID-19-related disruption, leaving a straightforward four-team Final Four. In the February 10 semifinals, Tenerife obliterated US Monastir 112-42, a 70-point margin built on 62% shooting from the field, including 20 of 35 from three-point range, while holding Monastir to just 29% shooting. In the other semifinal, Sao Paulo defeated the Rio Grande Valley Vipers 91-70, leading by 16 at halftime and by as many as 30 points (68-38) in the third quarter behind 24 points from Malcolm Miller and a 19-point, 15-rebound, 3-steal performance from Tulio da Silva. In the third-place game on February 12, the Vipers beat US Monastir; Vipers guard Jarrett Culver, a former NBA lottery pick, was the tournament's leading scorer with 45 total points across the event. The final, also February 12 in front of 4,887 fans, was tight into the second half. Tenerife led just 25-19 after a back-and-forth first quarter and only 43-35 at the break, with Sao Paulo clawing back after some early Tenerife turnovers, and the contest was further complicated by a wrist injury to Tenerife's Joan Sastre in the second quarter. The third quarter proved decisive: consecutive three-pointers from Bruno Fitipaldo and a teammate identified in Spanish coverage as "Salin" pushed the lead to 53-38, and after a flagrant foul on Sao Paulo's Marquinhos, Tenerife extended it further before leading 65-53 entering the fourth quarter and eventually closing out an 89-68 win. Fitipaldo, whose third-quarter shooting sparked the decisive run and who also recorded 6 assists in the game, was named tournament MVP. The win gave Tenerife its third Intercontinental Cup title (after 2017 and 2020), making the club, by a clear margin, the most successful team of the tournament's post-2016 era. It also closed the book on the February-dated version of the competition; from September 2023 onward the tournament would be played on an expanded, multi-continent scale in the fall, beginning that same year in Singapore.

Sources

• Wikipedia — 2023 FIBA Intercontinental Cup (February)
• Diario de Avisos — El Lenovo, brillante campeón de la Copa Intercontinental de Tenerife (89-68)
• FIBA — São Paulo vs Lenovo Tenerife final boxscore