The U.S. men’s national basketball team will hunt for gold next summer in Tokyo.
Team USA clinched a spot in the 2020 Summer Olympics on Monday morning by defeating Brazil 89-73 in the second medal round of the 2019 FIBA World Cup. The U.S. finished the round atop Group K and advanced to the World Cup medal quarterfinals with the win over Brazil, ensuring its status as one of the top-two finishing teams from the Americas zone and thus earning automatic qualification for the Olympics.
Boston Celtics guard Kemba Walker scored 16 points and added five assists in the win over Brazil while Celtics guard ended the third quarter with this buzzer-beater, which prompted a fine piece of commentary from the World Cup announcer.
Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown had 11 points, two of which came on this monster dunk in the fourth quarter.
Seven teams will earn direct qualification to the 2020 Olympics via the 2019 World Cup. Team USA, Argentina, Nigeria, Iran and Australia locked up Olympics berths as the top World Cup finishers from their respective FIBA zones. Europe’s two top finishing teams have yet to be determined, as the Czech Republic, France, Poland, Spain and Serbia all reached the World Cup quarterfinals.
Team USA will face France on Wednesday morning in Dongguan, China, in the quarterfinals.
