Italy vs Latvia Prediction - FIBA World Cup Picks 9/7/23

Italy and Latvia face off on Thursday morning in the FIBA World Cup 5-8 classification bracket. Both teams are now eliminated from winning the championship, but both teams have to be proud of how they played. 

Italy Betting Preview

Italy played well in the tournament but they had the unfortunate luck of having to play the United States in the quarterfinals. Two games ago against Puerto Rico the defense was elite giving up only 57 points and that led to the 16 point victory. In the last game against the United States though, the defense was awful giving up 100 points and that led to the 37 point defeat. At the end of the first quarter the United States was down 24-14 and they were never able to bounce back. Italy shot only 30.7 percent from the field and 18.4 percent from behind the three point line. Italy was led by Simone Fontecchio was the top scorer putting up 18 points, five rebounds, and one assist.  In this game if Italy wants to find success they are going to need to find success shooting from the field. 

Latvia Betting Preview

On the other side of this matchup is Latvia who were only a couple of more baskets away from making the semifinals. Latvia faced off against Germany and it was a mad second quarter that was the difference as they were defeated 81-79. In the 4th quarter they outscored Germany 20-19 but it wasn’t enough as they ended up losing. Latvia shot 44.6 percent from the field and 38.2 percent from behind the three point line. Arturs Zagars had a strong game finishing with 24 points, eight assists, and two rebounds. There were three different players that finished with at least 14 points. In this game for Latvia it’s going to need to be the defense that steps up and makes life tough on Italy’s offense.