2023 (September) FIBA Intercontinental Cup

Result

Games

Final context

The 33rd edition marked the Intercontinental Cup's permanent shift from a February date to September, and its most significant structural expansion yet: for the first time, the tournament grew from four teams to six, split into two three-team groups, with two Asian representatives -- Zhejiang Golden Bulls of China and Al Manama of Bahrain -- joining for the first time, played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, marking the competition's first visit to Asia as host. The field also included Franca (Brazil, FIBA Americas League champion), Telekom Baskets Bonn (Germany, FIBA Europe Cup champion), Al Ahly of Egypt (Basketball Africa League champion), and NBA G League Ignite. In Group A round-robin play, Franca beat Al Ahly 90-70 and NBA G League Ignite 98-89, while Al Ahly upset Ignite 82-76 -- the first win by an African club over an NBA G League team in tournament history -- but Franca's 2-0 record topped the group and sent it straight to the final. In Group B, Telekom Baskets Bonn beat Al Manama 105-50 and Zhejiang Golden Bulls 111-50 to top that group and reach the final as well (Zhejiang's other group game was a 95-78 win over Al Manama), meaning, unusually for this expanded format, the two group winners advanced directly to a final with no separate semifinal round; the remaining teams instead played classification games, with NBA G League Ignite beating Al Manama 80-60 for fifth place and Zhejiang Golden Bulls beating Al Ahly 81-74 for third, making the Golden Bulls the first Chinese club ever to reach an Intercontinental Cup podium. The final produced one of the most dramatic finishes in the tournament's history. Bonn led 69-68 after a Glynn Watson Jr. floater with under a minute remaining; following a Franca shot-clock violation and a timeout, Franca inbounded the ball to Lucas Dias, who buried a fadeaway jumper in the post right at the buzzer to win it, 70-69. It was only the second Intercontinental Cup final in the modern era to be decided by a single point (after Bauru's one-point Game 1 win over Real Madrid in the 2015 aggregate series, though that series itself was not decided by one point). Veteran guard David Jackson, 41 years old at the time, was named tournament MVP after totaling 12 points and 8 assists in the final -- part of a tournament in which he had also poured in 22 points during Franca's group-stage win over Al Ahly, a remarkable showing of longevity for a player well into his 40s. The win made Franca the third different Brazilian club to win the Intercontinental Cup, after Flamengo (2014, 2022) and, in the tournament's older pre-relaunch lineage, Sirio, underscoring Brazil's status as the most successful basketball nation in the competition's history. It was also a landmark edition for the tournament's geographic reach, being the first held in Asia and the first to feature two Asian club representatives at once.

Sources

• Wikipedia — 2023 FIBA Intercontinental Cup (September)
• List of FIBA Intercontinental Cup finals — Wikipedia