U.S. last Czech-in ahead of quarters

One final layup for the United States men’s basketball team.

At least it should be. Otherwise, they will be slammed again.

After following up a loss to France, its first Olympic defeat since 2004, by blowing out Iran, Team USA will finish group play Saturday against the Czech Republic (8 a.m. EDT). Listed as 23.5-point favorites, the Americans need a win to be certain of a berth in the quarterfinals that never should have been in doubt. In the quarters, all first- and second-place teams from the three groups join two third-place teams in an eight-team knockout tournament.

“We don’t go into every game thinking we’re going to beat everybody by 50,” center Bam Adebayo said. “It definitely keeps us on edge and shows that we can’t mess around.”

The Czechs are in the Olympics for the first time, after beating Greece and Canada to steal a spot in the original 12team field. Like the U.S., the Czech Republic lost to France and beat Iran to carry a 1-1 record into the Group A roundrobin finale.

A win for the U.S. would keep alive their chance at the No. 4 seed and would allow the Americans to avoid any of the three group winners until the semifinals — though a potential quarterfinal matchup with Spain or Luka Doncic-led Slovenia would be no cakewalk. A loss to the Czech Republic — while critique-worthy — probably won’t eliminate the U.S. because the tiebreaker for thirdplace teams is overall point differential.

“If we win [gold], that’s going to put to rest a lot of the things that have been said. Doom and gloom,” USA basketball’s managing director, Jerry Colangelo, told reporters in Tokyo. “If we don’t win, people will have their opportunity to take shots. I’m the one that has to look in the mirror and know that I did my best.”