Basketball

Team USA to face Spain in Olympic quarterfinal, Jayson Tatum could be key


TOKYO — Spain won the 2019 World Cup without having to play Team USA, becoming the first non-American team to win that event since 2006. They’ll get their chance to play the Americans at the Olympics on Tuesday.

Team USA, the three-time defending gold medalist that has shown some warts, and Spain will play in a quarterfinal Tuesday at 12:40 a.m. Eastern time. The Spaniards lost Sunday to Luka Doncic and Slovenia, 95-87. That loss knocked Spain to a No. 2 seed, and with Team USA already secure as the top second seed (which means they were considered the fourth-overall seed after the three pool winners), Spain fell into a draw where facing the Americans in a quarterfinal was possible.

Spain shot 38 percent and couldn’t take advantage of what was by far Doncic’s worst Olympic game (12 points, five turnovers, three first-half fouls) and, in fact, were beaten on a night Doncic was the undefeated Slovenians’ fourth-best scorer.

The Spaniards largely return the same team that won the World Cup, with Marc Gasol, Ricky Rubio, Sergio Llull and Rudy Fernandez as their anchors. It’s an aging team, and in an exhibition against the United States on July 18, the Americans won, 83-76, behind 19 points from Damian Lillard.

Team USA was a shell of itself then. It had lost Bradley Beal and





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