It's over, it's over! Japan's men's basketball team has officially been eliminated! The biggest joke of the 2025 Asian Cup.

Oh dear, this is tough.

Good night, the nights in Saudi Arabia are quite cold.

Japan, ranked second in this year's Asian Cup, just behind Australia, surprisingly failed to reach the quarter-finals.

They lost 73-97, a staggering deficit of 24 points. Even with the presence of Yamura Yuki and Hachimura Rui, it might not be enough to bridge such a significant gap.

Moreover, Lebanon dominated Japan from the start, giving them no chance to turn the game around; one could say the teams were not even on the same level.

By the way, how did Lebanon lose 86-97 to South Korea? It was mainly because Korea was on fire with their three-point shooting, hitting 22 out of 38 attempts for an impressive rate of about 56%, which was indeed incredibly tough to handle.

Back to the point, Lebanon's match against Japan was fluid and highly entertaining, with the team recording a total of 28 assists, perfectly showcasing team basketball. Mansour alone provided 15 assists, manipulating the opponent with ease. Additionally, Lebanon had an extremely high offensive efficiency, shooting 41 out of 73, with a success rate of about 56%.

Lawson, who played for Xinjiang last season, shot 10 out of 14, achieving an incredibly efficient 24 points and 10 rebounds, the highest in the game. In the 24-25 CBA season, he averaged 16.4 points, 10 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.5 steals, with shooting percentages of 52.8%, 37.2%, and 84%.

As for Japan, their outside core, Tominaga Kiyoshi, was completely off, making only 1 out of 9 shots for just 7 points. The naturalized center, Hawkinson, performed steadily with 15 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists, but it still wasn't enough to save the team. Japan's pride in three-point shooting resulted in a dismal 7 out of 27, with a success rate of about 26%.

This year's Asian Cup journey for Japan includes a record of 99-68 against Syria, 70-78 against Iran, 102-63 against Guam, and 73-97 against Lebanon.

If one were to say Japan is a pseudo-strong team, it wouldn't be an exaggeration. The above shows that they struggled against West Asian opponents who excel in physical confrontation and strong defense.

The quarter-final matchups are officially set: China vs. South Korea, New Zealand vs. Lebanon, Australia vs. the Philippines, and Iran vs. Chinese Taipei.

In the knockout stage, it's a single-elimination format: win and advance, lose and go home. It's that simple and brutal.