Italy vs Latvia Basketball Preview: Predictions, odds and more for the FIBA World Cup 2023

Italy and Latvia will take on each other in the 2023 FIBA World Cup on Thursday. The game will be a part of the 5-8 classification bracket.

Both teams surpassed expectations in the World Cup as they advanced to the quarterfinals. Italy fell in a blowout loss to the mighty United States squad filled with all NBA players. Latvia became the Cinderella story of the tournament, but the Baltic nation's magical run was ended by Germany in an 81-79 loss on Wednesday.

The two European nations will battle it out for pride after suffering heartbreaking losses. Italy hung tough on its challenging road, beating the host, the Philippines, before getting two huge wins in the second round against Serbia and Puerto Rico. Serbia is a semifinalist squad and one of the most talented in the field.

Latvia meanwhile sent shockwaves around the basketball world with its win against defending World Cup champion Spain and overcoming Brazil and France.

The Latvians did all of this without NBA All-Star Kristaps Porzingis. However, OKC Thunder forward Davis Bertans shouldered the load. He was joined by an unreal run from guard Arturs Zagars, who scored 24 in the loss to Germany and 22 in the upset win against France.

Italy vs. Latvia tips off from Manila at 4:45 a.m. ET on Thursday. It will be a tough battle between seemingly even teams.

Italy vs. Latvia Game Preview

The biggest factor in this game may be the energy level of Latvia. The team will have much less time to recover after playing a difficult matchup against Germany on Wednesday.

Latvia will also have to deal with the emotional struggle of bouncing back after such a close loss to Germany in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, Italy was handily defeated by Team USA, as expected.

The Italians had an extra day off compared to Latvia and will have a higher morale. It will also be interesting to see which of these two teams puts in the effort in the consolation battle, with the highest prize being fifth place.

On the court, it should be a good matchup, as both teams are offensive-minded and love to shoot.

Davis Bertans will be a problem for the Italian defense. He has unlimited range and has shown he can get his shot off against the best of the best in this tournament. Bertans is averaging 13.7 ppg and has hit double figures in every game except the blowout loss to Canada.

Italy will likely rely on the shooting of Utah Jazz forward Simone Fontecchio. He is 15th in the World Cup in scoring at 18.3 ppg. He went off for 30 points against Serbia in Italy’s biggest win and could do the same to Latvia.

Game Odds

Spread: Latvia (-1)

Total (O/U): 165.5

Moneyline: Latvia (-115) vs Italy (-105)

Game Prediction

Latvia has been the better team in this tournament and has played the harder schedule. The team should have the talent to win this one, especially if they keep up their hot shooting.

A mental letdown could give the edge to Italy. A big shooting night like Fontecchio had against Serbia could also give Italy the advantage. However, the firepower behind Bertans should be enough for Latvia to advance in the consolation ladder.