China lost to Serbia 105-63 in their first game in Group B at the FIBA Basketball World Cup at Araneta Coliseum in Quezon, the Philippines, on Saturday.

Serbia delivered a total of 30 assists with only 12 turnovers. The game was a long-gone conclusion after the first half, in which they led 55-34. Their key to victory was simple: always do the right thing.

Based on what they learned from the exhibition game they played against China before the World Cup, Serbia were very resolute in leaving most Chinese players open from deep. If it wasn't Li Kaier (formerly known as Kyle Anderson) dribbling to the front court for China, Serbian defenders were often bold enough to ball-pressure the ball-handler in the back court.

China sent a big starting lineup to Saturday's game to match Serbia in size, but whenever there were two Chinese guards on the court at the same time, Serbia would attack them in a mismatch without any hesitation. Meanwhile, they were not obsessed with half-court offense. Instead, even after China scored a bucket, Serbia wouldn't miss any opportunity to launch a fast break and go for easy points.

There were a lot of lessons for China to learn from Saturday's loss. For example, when backup center Wang Zhelin came to the game, he contributed nothing but three turnovers immediately, which led to the first collapse of his side in the first quarter. Of course, he shouldn't take all the blame because his teammates had great room for improvement when they tried to pass to him.

Li, as China's naturalized player, had great expectations on his shoulders but was under a lot of pressure as well. As a result, he seemed very indecisive on the offensive end. On one hand, he wanted to set up more chances for his teammates; on the other hand, he failed to do so because he was struggling in individual attack. He had been haunted by a cold touch and had to face Serbia's well-designed defense against him, which exploited his lack of shooting range.

If China's performances on Saturday night are divided into every independent possession, there are many highlights to be found. For example, both Zhang Zhenlin and Zhou Peng were decisive in shooting 3-pointers as long as there were chances for them. Zhou Peng also completed multiple sharp penetrations in the third quarter.

Zhou Qi, as China's starting center, did a great finishing job by making all six field goals. He moved in a more flexible way on the defensive end as well, making key contributions to protecting the paint and offering help defense.

This loss showed the gap between China and a top European team in Serbia, but it was only the team's first game in this group. There are more games for China to play in the tournament to battle for early qualification for the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Puerto Rico defeated South Sudan 101-96 in the other game in Group B at the World Cup at the Manila Araneta Coliseum in Manila, the Philippines, earlier on Saturday.

Puerto Rico didn't lead until the final 16 seconds of the fourth quarter. They were the better-coordinated team compared with the opponents, but South Sudan took them by surprise with their unreasonably accurate 3-point shooting performance in the first half. Meanwhile, the World Cup debutants from Africa also made Puerto Rico struggle offensively with their huge sizes and remarkable wingspans.

However, a lead is meaningless unless it's kept until the end of the match. As time went on, South Sudan first cooled down quickly from downtown. Then they lost their focus on rebound and ball protection, committing more turnovers and allowing more offensive rebounds by the opponents.

Puerto Rico outscored South Sudan 39-29 in the second half of the game. Stephen Thompson Jr. stole Wenyen Gabriel's ball when their side trailed 79-78 and then assisted Ismael Romero to finish the dunk that put Puerto Rico in the leading position. Tremont Waters later made two free throws that would have sealed the deal for the team if Carlik Jones hadn't drained the game-tying 3-pointer for South Sudan.

Puerto Rico were even more unstoppable in overtime, driving a 7-1 run in the first two minutes and never handing control of the game back to South Sudan. Waters dropped a double-double of 19 points and 10 assists. Five of his teammates also reached double-digit points, including Thompson Jr. (21+13), Romero (16+12) and George Condit (18+11), each of whom got double-doubles in points and rebounds.

On South Sudan's side, Jones did everything he could with a court-high 38 points in addition to 11 assists, but his efforts couldn't keep the team from blowing a 10-point lead (52-42) in the first half of the game.

Other games on Saturday:

Cape Verde 60-85 Georgia

Jordan 71-92 Greece

Iran 59-100 Brazil

Slovenia 100-85 Venezuela

USA 99-72 New Zealand

Spain 94-64 Cote d'Ivoire