FIVE-time champion United States, Lithuania, Germany and Slovenia hurdled their respective opponents to stay unbeaten in the FIBA World Cup 2023.

The United States recovered from a slow start to roll back Montenegro, 85-73, and extend its winning streak to four games at the start of the second round of the prestigious 32-team tournament being hosted by Manila for the second time since 1978.

After winning their three games in preliminary round by an average margin of over 34 points, the Americans struggled in the early goings and played catch-up for most of the first quarter.

Anthony Edwards finished with a game-high 17 points, Austin Reeves added 12 points and Jaren Jackson , Jr. contributed 11 points for the Steve Kerr-mentored American team.

Tyrese Haliburton had 10 points and had six assists

“You have to go through an experience where it’s a tight game and every possession matters. You definitely get better with a game like this rather than a 40-point victory, because you have to feel it,” said Kerr after the game.

Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic led Montenegro with 18 points.

Also keeping their perfect records at 4-0 were Lithuania, which clobbered Greece, 92-67, in Group J; and Germany, which crushed Georgia, 100-73, and Slovenia, which outsteadied Australia, 91-80, in Group K.

There were upsets in the other groups, however.

World No. 29 Latvia pulled the biggest upset in their first World Cup appearance, beating defending champion Spain, 74-69, in Jakarta.

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Davis Bertans fired 16 points on 4-of-9 as Latvia outscored Spain, 27-11, in the fourth quarter to erase an 11-point deficit and escape with the big win.

Andrejs Grazulis, Rolands Smits and Kristers Zoriks contributed 11 points apiece.

World No. 10 Italy also pulled the rug from under No. 6 Serbia, 78-76 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to keep its own hopes alive.

Simone Fontecchio, the 6-7 forward from the Utah Jazz, put up a scoring clinic with 30 points on 11-of-15 shooting to power the Italians to their third win in four matches.

Bogdan Bogdanovic of the Atlanta Hawks carried the fight for Serbia with 18 points.

Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic had a tough shooting night as he managed only five points on 1-of-6 shooting.

Over at the Jakarta Arena, Brazil stunned Canada, 69-65, behind Bruno Caboclo’s 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Yago Santos finished with eight points on 3-of-10 shooting, but he also had 10 assists and four rebounds for Brazil, which will play Latvia with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals in Manila.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting, with five rebounds, while Lu Dort added 17.

Canada will battle defending champions Spain, also for a spot in the knockout rounds.