{"id":483004,"date":"2026-02-16T05:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T05:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/483004\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T05:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T05:04:09","slug":"five-magic-moments-from-the-first-window-of-the-asian-qualifiers-fiba-basketball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/483004\/","title":{"rendered":"Five magic moments from the first window of the Asian Qualifiers\u00a0|\u00a0FIBA Basketball"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

The official World Cup Qualifiers app<\/p>\n

Download Now<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

MIES (Switzerland) – Missed Window 1 of the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers? <\/p>\n

No problem, we have you covered!<\/p>\n

As teams gear up for Window 2, it\u2019s the perfect time to recap the most memorable moments from the opening window. From game-winners, historical debuts, headline stats to spectacular individual scoring, Window 1 set the perfect stage for the remaining five windows of the Asian Qualifiers. <\/p>\n

Hickey’s heartbreakers vs New Zealand<\/p>\n

Will this happen in Pasay?<\/p>\n

\"\"Watch it now: So nice that Davo Hickey hit game-winners twice<\/p>\n

The Tall Blacks did everything right in the opening window. Except win.<\/p>\n

Boomers shooting guard Davo Hickey\u2019s late game Houdini acts were to blame.<\/p>\n

Every basketball player dreams of game-winners from the first time they practice countdown shots in the driveway.<\/p>\n

Hickey managed that – not once but in back-to-back games. That too against Australia’s traditional Oceania rivals.<\/p>\n

New Zealand were chasing their first victories over their trans-Tasman neighbors since 2021. In the opening game they lost 84-79 in Hobart, followed by a 79-77 defeat at home. <\/p>\n

All thanks to Hickey\u2019s heroics.<\/p>\n

Who says lightning can\u2019t strike twice?<\/p>\n

Korea’s historic wins over China <\/p>\n

Related news:<\/p>\n

\"\"No fluke as Korea repeat to complete sweep<\/p>\n

Another traditional rivalry – this time in East Asia. But now, it was be the \u2018underdogs\u2019 that triumphed.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s Achilles’ heel is arguably their limitation in guarding quicker-paced hot-shooting teams. <\/p>\n

Korea exposed this with some incredible flame-throwing that stunned the reigning Asia Cup runners-up into submission.<\/p>\n

After winning 80-76 in the opener, you would imagine Korea cooling off in the return leg. But incredibly, Korea shot even better in game two – 47.8 percent from three-point land compared to 45.2 percent in the first tie.<\/p>\n

Korea was of course helped by a record setting nine triples from Lee Hyunjung, who deserves a separate entry on this list. <\/p>\n

World Cup 2027 hosts underline their intent <\/p>\n

Related Articles<\/p>\n

\"\"Qatar breach Lebanon’s home fortress with huge upset\"\"How big was Qatar’s upset over the Cedars in Lebanon?<\/p>\n

After threatening Lebanon repeatedly over their previous few meetings only to fall agonizingly short, Qatar finally celebrated a historic 86-83 win over their Middle Eastern foes. <\/p>\n

The Cedars admittedly are still building their team chemistry, but this takes nothing away from Qatar’s fearless play against the backdrop of a packed and loud away crowd in Beirut. <\/p>\n

Guam’s debut meets Gilas’ Domination <\/p>\n

Related news:<\/p>\n

\"\"Gilas set Asian Qualifiers rebounding record<\/p>\n

They called it “their biggest basketball game in their country”, but it was Philippines which celebrated at Guam’s expense. Guam was making their debut in the World Cup Qualifiers – a miraculous feat for an island with less than 200,000 people. <\/p>\n

But on the other end of the floor, Gilas Pilipinas were raring to make a strong opening statement of their own. That would come on the glass – 61 rebounds, the most by any team in the Asian Qualifiers. <\/p>\n

Harris and Hyunjung catch fire\"\"<\/p>\n

Jalen Harris<\/p>\n

scored 42 points in Window 1 vs Syria<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Read more<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

When the name on the front of your jersey matches that of arguably basketball’s G.O.A.T. (sorry LeBron!) expect offensive performances that follow suit.<\/p>\n

Jordan’s newest star Jalen Harris set the Qualifiers stage on fire, scoring 42 points against Syria in the second game of the window. <\/p>\n

This was the second most points by a player in a World Cup Qualifiers game. <\/p>\n

Simultaneously, on the other end of Asia – Lee Hyunjung was turning Beijing into his personal playground – scorching China for 9 threes – shattering the World Cup Qualifiers Record. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Lee Hyunjung<\/p>\n

set 3PM record in Window 1<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

So will we see similar storylines playing out again in Window 2, or will there be fresh surprises in store?<\/p>\n

World Cup 2027 Asian Qualifiers Games Window 2 action tips off on February 27 and will continue till March 3. Stream the action on Courtside 1891, with live games and on-demand replays. Blackouts might apply in certain territories.<\/p>\n

FIBA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The official World Cup Qualifiers app Download Now MIES (Switzerland) – Missed Window 1 of the FIBA Basketball…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":483005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-483004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}