FIBA Basketball World Cup: Team USA beats Brazil to make quarters, clinches Olympic spot
By knocking Brazil out of the FIBA World Cup on Monday, the United States secured its Olympic qualification.
Published : Sep 09, 2019 23:19 IST
The United States beat Brazil 89-73 on Monday to book a quarter-final meeting with France at the FIBA World Cup, as well as qualifying for the Olympics.
The defending champion is now 5-0 in China, having boasted far too much firepower for Brazil, which crashed out with defeat.
Brazil's elimination means Team USA and Argentina are both through to the 2020 Olympic Games as they will finish the World Cup as the two top FIBA Americas teams.
Monday's victory secured USA top spot in Group K, though it only had a narrow half-time lead - 43-39 - behind 10 points apiece from Boston Celtics guard Kemba Walker and Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner.
But USA opened up on offense following the restart, with Celtics guard Marcus Smart hitting a late three-pointer to give the side a 67-56 lead through three quarters.
It stretched its lead further late on, as Walker and Turner each ended on 16 points.
Now, Team USA faces a much stiffer challenge in France, which features NBA players Nicolas Batum, Rudy Gobert and Evan Fournier and is the No. 3 ranked team in the world, according to FIBA.
BOOMERS SCORE BIG TO BEAT FRANCE
It is Australia which will play Czech Republic next after booking a place on the opposite side of the draw to USA by handing France a narrow defeat.
A final scoreline of 100-98 represented the first time France has ever given up a century of points in a World Cup game, with Evan Fournier's 31 not enough to rescue a result.
This was the first match at the tournament with two players scoring at least 30 points, while Australia became the first to have three on 20 or more.
Patty Mills managed exactly 30, with Joe Ingles on 23 and Aron Baynes – who converted five of his six three-point attempts - on 21.
Team-mate Jock Landale said of Baynes: "He's huge. That's what he does for us. He's a stretched five, who shoots the ball really well. He is going to keep doing it for us and we are going to keep letting him shoot."
OTHER RESULTS
Argentina joins Team USA in advancing to the World Cup quarterfinals and also earning a berth in the 2020 Olympics.
Lithuania bowed out with a victory in the same pool, beating Dominican Republic 74-55.
In the classification round, Montenegro, New Zealand, Jordan and Germany achieved wins against Japan, Turkey, Senegal and Canada respectively.
New Zealand and Germany each finished top of their groups.