Team USA clinches 2nd place in Group A with rout of Czech Republic

The United States men’s basketball team started off slow, but found its groove in time to cruise to a comfortable 119-84 win over the Czech Republic in the final game of Group A play in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics basketball tournament on Saturday.

With second place and a sure spot in the knockout rounds at stake, the US team took care of business to finish with a 2-1 record in the group phase.

France took the spot in Group A with a 3-0 record, including an upset win over the US in their first match, while the US and Czech Republic (1-2) trail behind them. Iran finished in last place with a 0-3 record.

The top two teams in each of the three groups will advance into the quarterfinals, along with the two best third-place teams.

Jayson Tatum finished with a game-high 27 points, though he scored many of those, including five three-pointers, in a lopsided fourth quarter where the outcome seemed all but decided.

Kevin Durant scored 23 points to lead the team through the first three quarters before sitting out the entirety of the final period, which they entered leading by 22 points. He shot 8-for-11 (73%) from the field and also logged team-highs of eight rebounds and six assists.

Zach Lavine finished with 13 points and five assists while Jrue Holiday added 11 markers. Both guards shot 5-for-7 (71%) from the field.

The Czech team got the jump on their US counterparts, rushing out to a 9-2 lead. They pushed that up to double figures, 19-9. Behind the shooting of Blake Schilb and the playmaking of Tomas Satoranksy, who dished out four assists in the first period alone.

But Team USA started to get into a rhythm as Lavine knocked down two triples and Damian Lillard added another from long range to come back to within three, 21-18.

The Czechs hung onto a 25-18 lead after the first period, but the Americans’ depth started to show in the second period.

They got some early contributions fromTatum, Khris Middleton, Draymond Green as they stormed back to within two points, 27-25, before Durant hit some threes and Tatum hit on back-to-baskets as part of a 16-6 run that made it a six-point lead for the US, 45-39.

A late shot from Durant, answered by a triple from Schilb, set the score at 47-43 at the halftime break.

In the third, Holiday made some big plays on both ends of the floor as he led the US team to a 10-point lead, 57-47.

Team USA then got a little bit of breathing room after a quick 7-0 between Durant and Devin Booker put them up by 15, 73-58. After a layup from Czech Republic’s Ondrej Sehnal, though, the US rattled off nine unanswered points to close the period with a comfortable 22-point lead, 82-60.

They Americans outscored the Czechs, 35-17, in the third period with Durant doing all of his damage until this point of the game.

The US team poured it on in the fourth to push the lead up to as high as 37.

Schilb led Czech Republic with 17 points, though he was only able to score three points after halftime. Satoransky finished with 12 points, six rebounds, and a game-high eight assists.

The scores:
USA 119 – Tatum 27, Durant 23, Lavine 13, Holiday 11, McGee 10, Green 8, Lillard 8, Middleton 8, Adebayo 6, Booker 5, Grant 0, Johnson 0.

Czech Republic – Schilb 17, Balvin 15, Vesely 13, Satoransky 12, Jelinek 7, Palyza 7, Auda 6, Sehnal 5, Bohacik 2, Peterka 0, Sirina 0, Vyoral 0.

Quarterscores: 18-25, 47-43, 82-60, 119-84

—JMB, GMA News