Four years removed from their second FIBA Asia championship, Iran was a picture of consistency in the 2013 edition of the tournament. They began their campaign with a 90-point shellacking of Malaysia and swept the rest of their group matches, including a 70-51 rout of defending champions China. With NBA center Hamed Haddadi leading the team with 17.6 points and 8.6 rebounds a game, the Iranians were unstoppable on their way to the semifinals.

Chinese Taipei, on the other hand, were prohibitive underdogs in Saturday's game. While the Taiwanese were coming off a monumental upset of China on Friday, observers thought that their inside game would be no match to the hulking centers of Iran - Chinese Taipei's biggest players were a couple of 6'9" centers, while the Iran squad boasted at least three players standing 6'10" and above. Nevertheless, their quarterfinals victory over China gave them a confidence boost coming into their semifinals date with the Gulf nation.

Indeed, the confidence gained from the China match seemed to have carried over to the first quarter, as Chinese Taipei's outside shooters found their stroke early, led by Lin Chi-Chieh and Lu Cheng-Ju. The Taiwanese went on a 17-8 tear to end the first quarter, 23-14.

However, Iran soon began to impose its will on offense in the second period. Their backcourt conspired to overhaul Chinese Taipei's lead and the whole team clamped down on defense, resulting in 8 turnovers. At the end of the half, Chinese Taipei stared at a 41-35 deficit.

The Iranians intensified their defense in the third quarter, keeping the Taiwanese to only two field goals, while scoring 19 of their own. Haddadi had his way inside both offensively and defensively, and controlled the boards. Iran ended the quarter up 60-39, while Chinese Taipei was left dazed and confused from Iran's defensive ambush.

With the game already in the bag, Iran still did not pull out its starters to prevent an end-game meltdown, something that Chinese Taipei had pounced on against the Philippines and (to a lesser extent) Qatar. While Chinese Taipei finally started hitting their shots, they were contented with merely trading baskets with Iran. As the smoke cleared, Iran had four players in double digits, led by guard Mahdi Kamrany and Haddadi, and completed a semifinals massacre, 79-60.

Iran goes on to Sunday's final game against the winner of the Philippines-South Korea game.