It was a historic night for Jordan Clarkson and the rest of the Philippines contingent, as their first night as the hosts of the 2023 FIBA World Cup was a rousing success. The predominantly Filipino crowd set the record for most people in attendance ever for a FIBA World Cup game, with 38,115 fans packing the Philippine Arena. However, in the end, it was Karl-Anthony Towns and the Dominican Republic that had the last laugh, picking up a hard-fought 87-81 victory to silence the home crowd.

Towns was simply too big, too fast, and too strong for the Filipino defenders. The Minnesota Timberwolves star refused to settle for jump shots, instead taking his defender, primarily AJ Edu, off the dribble, drawing one trip to the foul line after another. He finished the contest with 26 points and 10 rebounds, with 15 of those 26 points coming from the charity stripe, to lead the way for the Dominican Republic.

Alas, as Karl-Anthony Towns and company would attest to, the host country Philippines were no pushovers, as favored as Dominican Republic may have been entering the contest. Led by Jordan Clarkson, the team affectionately known as Gilas Pilipinas gave the Dominicans everything they can handle. However, the Utah Jazz guard couldn't stay away from foul trouble, exiting the game with five fouls late in the fourth quarter, essentially dooming the Philippines in the end.

Clarkson finished the game with 20 points, as he got to the rim at will against the Dominican Republic defense. However, the Jazz man had eight turnovers against seven assists — a less-than-ideal ratio. However, his importance to Gilas Pilipinas is second-to-none, as he's the only viable off-the-dribble threat that they had against Karl-Anthony Towns and crew. The Philippines offense sputtered in the end with Clarkson being unable to do anything about the matter given his foul disqualification predicament.

It was a fascinating start to proceedings in Group A of the 2023 FIBA World Cup, with Dominican Republic and Italy taking victories over the Philippines and Angola, respectively. The two unbeaten Group A teams thus far will then face each other on August 27 for a near-certain spot on the knockout stages, while the hosts will essentially be fighting for their tournament lives against Angola on the same day.