Latvia to Face World Cup Qualifiers Without Porzingis in July
Kristaps Porzingis will not play for Latvia in July's World Cup qualifying games but is willing to join in August if the team advances.
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The Latvian men's national basketball team will have to do without Kristaps Porzingis for the upcoming FIBA World Cup qualifiers in July, according to "Sportacentrs.com".
The power forward will miss the matches on July 3 away against the Netherlands and July 7 at home versus Austria. However, Porzingis has agreed to help the national team in August if they qualify for the next round. Currently, his agents are working on signing a new contract with an NBA team.
The list of candidates for the July games is expected to be announced in the coming days.
In Group F of the qualifiers, after four games, Poland leads with four wins, the Netherlands has two, while Latvia and Austria each have one. Previously, in November, Latvia lost to the Netherlands (78-86) and defeated Austria (89-68). In late February, they lost to Poland at home (82-84), and in early March, they suffered another loss to Poland (72-92).
The top three teams from Group F will advance to the second round, where they will combine with the top three from Group E (Germany, Croatia, Israel, Cyprus). From this group of six, the three best teams will earn a spot in the FIBA World Cup tournament in Qatar.
