On Saturday, the US men’s basketball team beat the Czech Republic to win the berth in the Olympic version of the playoffs in search of a gold medal.
Team USA won 119-84 after dragging 7 at the end of the first quarter.
Jayson Tatum led the Americans with 27 points, followed by Kevin Durant with 20 points and Zach LaVine with 13 points.
Durant was also the most common in each category, with a total of eight rebounds and six assists.
“It’s fun to watch and it’s fun to participate,” said Jrue Holiday after the match.
The Czech Republic’s NBA has only one player, Tomas Satoransky, but Team USA has lost two exhibition matches and one Olympics to France, winning the sudden death play. is.
“Lost definitely helps you grow,” said Holiday.
“Congratulations to America,” Satoransky said. He revealed that he was playing with an inguinal injury at the Olympics and said he needed time to heal. “Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to continue playing the same kind of basketball since the first half … obviously they are the best team in the world.”
Team USA won gold medals at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Olympics after a disappointing bronze finish in 2004.
After losing to France in group play, Iran routed before winning on Saturday.
“I think our team was really focused and did a good job of landing every day of practice,” US coach Gregg Popovich told reporters. “Hopefully we will keep it moving forward. If you want to succeed, you have to.”
The United States (2-1) finished second in Group A after France, but as the winner of the Sunday match between France, Australia and Slovenia and Spain, Tuesday based on FIBA’s tiebreaker system including points. Participate as the top 4 seed in the quarterfinals of. Differential.
These quarter-final matches will be decided by a draw on Sunday night, but the United States now guarantees that it is not necessary to face any of the three group winners, at least until the semi-finals.
Also on Saturday, France beat Iran, Italy beat Nigeria and Australia beat Germany.
The US women’s basketball team the day before defeated Japan in the 51st consecutive Olympic Games.
The team will face France on Monday.
An American woman previously made money in 3×3 basketball. This was the first time this field was included in the Olympics. Latvia won the men’s 3×3 basketball without the men’s team on the field.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.