Wael Arakji showed why he is Asia's best point guard, hitting a dagger corner 3-pointer in the dying seconds to lift Lebanon to an 85-81 win over Gilas Pilipinas in the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers in Beirut.
The game went back and forth in the fourth period, with Gilas even surging ahead 75-71 after trailing by five. But the Cedars came through with the last run of the game, capped by Arakji's 3 off a Kai Sotto block that pushed them ahead 83-78 with 16 seconds left.
"Well, we knew it was gonna be a tough game," Gilas coach Chot Reyes said. "It was gonna be difficult because we were playing the No. 2 team in Asia from the FIBA-Asia Cup, playing at home. So we expected that it would be a big challenge, big battle for us. But I'm very proud of the way our team played. We battled and we battled hard and competed."
Echoed Cedars coach Jad El Hajj: "I'll be honest, it was a very tough game. You see the Philippines scored six 3-pointers, which is not their average. They average between 12 to 15 per game. We controlled the game after 15 minutes, and we were lucky at the end to finish the game winning."
Here are four thoughts on the game:
Arakji is the King Cedar
The MVP of last month's FIBA Asia Cup Arakji bucked a slow start and took over at the end. He finished with 24 points, even though his shot wasn't falling (he made just 6 of 17 attempts). He found other ways to score, getting to the line often and hitting 10 of 11 free throws, the last two sealing the win and prompting him to do Steph Curry's "night, night" move.
Reigning PBA MVP Scottie Thompson was his primary defender, and although Thompson had some success early on, ultimately Arakji willed his team to victory. Afterwards, he had a chilling message for Gilas: "When you're in my town, you go by my rules."
Again, those turnovers
Gilas got off to a hot start and took an early 19-9 lead. While they shot better from the field, 48% compared to Lebanon's 36%, the Cedars had 15 more chances because Gilas played another error-plagued game and turned the ball over 21 times. Many were simply the result of carelessness and poor ball-handling. The Cedars took advantage, posting a 22-13 edge in points off turnovers.
"The 21 turnovers was really the big difference in this ballgame, and that's just the result of us not yet as familiar with each other as we'd like to be," Reyes said. "If we get some more time, some more practice together we should be able to address that."
"I think we did a good job of competing," said Jordan Clarkson, who led Gilas with 27 points. "Coach prepared us really well in terms of scouting this team out. We had a great game plan coming in. It's hard to win when you have 20-plus turnovers in a game like this especially with the home crowd behind them."
"We suffered at the beginning," El Hajj said. "It took us 10 to 15 minutes to understand what kind of game Jordan plays. Our strong point is to let the opponent make turnovers."
Jordan, Dwight and Kai
Clarkson played over 37 minutes, including the entire second half. Several times, especially in the first half, he flashed his NBA pedigree. He also did his share of playmaking with seven assists. But he had just five points in the fourth, three coning off free throws in the last 12 seconds, as the Cedars did a good job getting the ball out of his hands.
Dwight Ramos had a superb all-around game, compiling 18 points, 10 rebounds and six steals and showed everyone what Gilas missed in the FIBA Asia Cup. Meanwhile, Sotto had a solid outing, chipping in 10 points and eight boards while giving Gilas a much-needed rim protector. Officially he was credited with two blocks, but there are no stats to measure the number of shots he altered. At times, though, Cedars big man Ali Haidar had his way with the much thinner Sotto down low, easily pushing him out of the way to get buckets.
"For us, it's just bright," Clarkson said. "We're just getting this team together. We got pretty young stars on the team. Dwight played really well tonight. Kai played well. I think it was all around a really good effort. We had a chance to win the game. I missed some shot towards the end of the game I feel I usually make as well. Just a tough one tonight."
What's next
Gilas will next face Saudi Arabia on Monday before an expected big crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena. The Saudis have a 3-3 record in the qualifiers, including a 30-point loss to Lebanon last month. They also barely scraped past Indonesia, winning 69-67 on July 1. But they looked better against New Zealand on Thursday, losing by 15.
"We just got to take it on the head, go back to the drawing board," Clarkson said. "We're going back to Manila. We got Saudi Arabia coming in. We just got to be prepared for that and try to get a win at home."