Team USA basketball can book travel plans to Tokyo next summer.
The United States officially qualified for the men's tournament at the 2020 Olympics -- and advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2019 FIBA World Cup -- with Monday's 89-73 win over Brazil in Shenzen.
Kings forward Harrison Barnes scored 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from the line. Barnes started once again and led the Americans in minutes (27:18) for the first time all tournament, tying for second on the Americans in plus-minus (plus-16) with Joe Harris.
The quarterfinals now are set, and the Americans' path to a World Cup crown is tricky, to say the least.
#FIBAWC Quarter-Finals set!
Pick 4:
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🇺🇸🆚🇫🇷
🇪🇸🆚🇵🇱
🇦🇺🆚🇨🇿#WorldGotGame pic.twitter.com/yhW1B7Ihe0— Basketball World Cup (@FIBAWC) September 9, 2019
Team USA will face France in the quarterfinals Wednesday. The French lost for the first time Monday, falling 100-98 to Australia to conclude the group stage. A two-point loss to a team that has already beaten the United States is nothing to sneeze at, and France's core of NBA veterans Rudy Gobert, Nicolas Batum and Evan Fournier arguably is as good as any the Americans have seen in this tournament.
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If Team USA advances to the semis, they'd likely match up with Serbia. King-on-King action between Barnes, Nemanja Bjelica and Bogdan Bogdanovic is intriguing for Sacramento fans, but Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic leads the Serbian front line and just might be the best player remaining in the tournament. The Serbs lost to Spain in Sunday's group-stage finale, but Serbian coach Aleksandar Djordjevic likely still has plenty of confidence about a potential matchup with the United States.
With Australia and Spain looming on the other side of the bracket, Barnes and Team USA will be well-tested if they advance to the World Cup final. They'll first have to beat France on Wednesday, however.
