FIBA World Cup: Cold Turkey FTs allow Team USA to escape; Day 4 takeaways

Turkey missed 4 straight free throws in the closing seconds of OT and Khris Middleton made a pair to give Team USA a 93-92 escape and a 2nd-round berth.

Turkey had the upset of the FIBA World Cup thus far in its hands and couldn’t hold it. Leading Team USA 92-91 with less than 10 seconds remaining in overtime, the Turks missed four consecutive free throws and the U.S. escaped with a 93-92 win when Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks made a pair of foul shots with 2.1 seconds to go.

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Turkey battled back from a 15-point first-half deficit and led by as much as five late in regulation, but Kemba Walker of the Boston Celtics knocked down a 3-pointer and a step-back jumper to bring the Americans back.

Milwaukee’s Ersan Ilyasova tipped in a missed jumper by Cedi Osman of the Cleveland Cavaliers with 12 seconds left in regulation to give Turkey an 81-79 lead.

On the ensuing possession, Middleton misfired on a potential go-ahead 3-pointer, but Walker corralled the offensive board and Jayson Tatum of the Celtics — who left with an apparent leg injury late in overtime — was fouled on a 3-point attempt by Osman with 0.1 second left.

Tatum made the first, missed the second and made the third and the teams braced for another five minutes.

Turkey took its final lead with 50 seconds to go on a conventional three-point play by Osman. Joe Harris of the Brooklyn Nets — who played a strong overall game — missed a layup and a tip-in by Myles Turner of the Indiana Pacers was waved off when Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz grabbed the rim.

Walker stepped in front of Scottie Wilbekin, Turkey’s backup point guard, to draw a crucial offensive foul and get the ball back for the U.S. with 14 seconds left, but Turner was stripped by Dogus Balbay.

Harris wrapped up Balbay around the waist after the Turkish guard had given up the ball — an unsportsmanlike foul to give Turkey two shots and the basketball with 9.2 seconds to play.

But Balbay missed both free throws and Marcus Smart of the Celtics fouled Osman almost immediately on the inbounds play. Osman proceeded to misfire on both of his attempts.

Middleton got the ball on the wing and drove to the basket with time winding down and was fouled by Bugrahan Tuncer with 2.1 seconds left. Ilyasova’s last gasp shot for Turkey was off-line and the U.S. clinched a second-round berth out of Group E, improving to 2-0.

Turkey (1-1) will face off the with the Czech Republic (1-1) Thursday in a winner-take-all game for a second-round spot, while Japan (0-2) was relegated to the classification round with their 89-76 loss to the Czechs.

Six teams in all punched tickets to the second round on Tuesday. Brazil will be headed out of Group F after holding off Greece 79-78 in Group F to improve to 2-0, sending Greece into an elimination game against New Zealand on Tuesday.

Group G is all decided, with France and the Dominican Republic both going to 2-0 with wins on Tuesday, with the same scenario playing out in Group H as Australia and Lithuania booked passage to the second round.

For the Dominicans, it is their first time ever advancing past the first round. They finished 13th among 24 teams in Spain in 2014 and were 12th out of 14 teams in their only other FIBA World Cup appearance in the Philippines in 1978.

While much has been made of the star power that stayed behind in the United States, Canada’s dreams of a FIBA World Cup evaporated in an instant and almost all of its best players skipped the trip. The Canadians were eliminated with their 92-69 pounding at the hands of Lithuania.