FIBA Intercontinental Cup 2026: Rytas Vilnius rout Shanghai Sharks, Boca Juniors fall to NBA G League United in Group Phase finale — Semi-Finals preview

Rytas Vilnius's shooting clinic buries Shanghai Sharks

Rytas Vilnius needed only one half to signal how lopsided this Group A finale would become. The Lithuanian club edged Shanghai Sharks 25-24 in the first quarter before pulling away to a 55-44 halftime lead, then detonated a 27-7 third quarter that pushed the margin to 82-51 heading into the fourth. From there, Rytas coasted to a 107-66 final, its biggest lead of the night reaching 46 points while Rytas spent 35 minutes and 17 seconds of the game in front, against just over two minutes for Shanghai.

The numbers behind the rout were stark. Rytas Vilnius shot 60% from the field for the game, including 66.7% from 3-point range, while Shanghai Sharks managed only 37% overall and a frigid 10.5% from beyond the arc. That gap in efficiency, more than any single sequence, explains how a one-point game after the first quarter turned into a 41-point final margin.

Kay Bruhnke paced Rytas Vilnius with 21 points, the game's leading scorer on either side. Wang Zhelin kept Shanghai competitive individually with 17 points, but the Chinese club couldn't slow the flow of Rytas 3-pointers falling at a two-thirds clip. The result pushed Rytas to a 2-0 record in the Group Phase, according to the club's official FIBA team page, confirming Vilnius topped Group A and locked in a Semi-Finals berth.

Eric Dixon leads NBA G League United's second-half turnaround

Boca Juniors looked in control for most of Thursday night's Group B finale against NBA G League United. The Argentine club opened with a 25-20 first quarter and carried a 43-36 lead into halftime, riding a physical, back-and-forth style that the FIBA site itself described as a "physical battle between Boca Juniors and NBA G League United." Boca's largest lead of the game reached 16 points, and the club spent over 32 minutes of game time in front.

NBA G League United flipped the script after the break. The North American club outscored Boca Juniors 24-19 in the third quarter and 19-12 in the fourth, closing the game on a stretch that erased the seven-point halftime deficit and turned it into a 79-74 win. NBA G League United's biggest lead was only 15 points, smaller than Boca's, but it came at the moment that mattered — the final buzzer.

Eric Dixon led all scorers with 22 points for NBA G League United, a performance strong enough to earn him a dedicated highlight feature from the tournament. Micheal Warren answered with 17 points for Boca Juniors, but the Argentine club's 14-0 scoring run earlier in the game wasn't enough to offset a comeback in which NBA G League United shot better from the field for the game, 44% to Boca's 43%, and hit 77.8% of its free throws.

Group Phase closes with both Chinese clubs bound for the fifth-place game

Three days of Group Phase play in Beijing settled the four Semi-Finals berths, one from each continental federation represented in the field. Europe's Rytas Vilnius and South America's Boca Juniors both won their groups outright, while North America's NBA G League United advances despite Thursday's loss to Boca, and Africa's RSSB Tigers — the reigning Basketball Africa League champions — round out the final four. According to FIBA's recap, "After three intensive days of action in Beijing, we know all four passengers to the Semi-Finals of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup. Europe, South America, North America and Africa will have their representatives there, while the two Chinese teams face off in the Fifth Place Game."

That leaves Shanghai Sharks and Beijing Royal Fighters, the tournament's two Chinese entrants, eliminated from the title chase after the group stage. Both clubs now shift to a fifth-place matchup rather than a path toward the trophy, a result that closes the door on the host nation's title hopes in this edition of the competition.

Rytas-Boca rematch and a Tigers test for NBA G League United headline Saturday

The Semi-Finals are set for Saturday, September 26, at National Indoor Stadium, with both games carrying real stakes for continental pride. Rytas Vilnius will face Boca Juniors at 7:30 p.m. local time, a matchup FIBA lists as 1:30 p.m. in Lithuania and 8:30 a.m. in Argentina. It pits Rytas's blistering shooting numbers from group play against a Boca Juniors side that has shown it can build big leads even when it cannot always hold them.

The other Semi-Final sends RSSB Tigers against NBA G League United at 3:30 p.m. local time, or 5:30 a.m. Eastern. RSSB Tigers arrive off a Day 2 performance FIBA described as a comeback "from -19 in thriller," a sign the BAL champions can survive adversity on this stage. NBA G League United, fresh off erasing its own second-half deficit against Boca Juniors, will need a similar response if the Tigers build an early cushion. Both winners advance to the title game, with the tournament running through September 27 and already reshuffling expectations for every continent involved.