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

Turkey has a day to recover for Czech Republic showdown

At Shanghai, Turkey gave Team USA all it could handle and will kick itself for its blown opportunity at a major upset.

Turkey finished 14-for-23 at the free throw line on the night, just 60.9 percent, but will rue the four straight misses in the final seconds of overtime that could have given them a win and a second-round berth.

Instead, the tired Turks will have just one day to rest and prepare to face the Czech Republic in a do-or-die battle for the other Group E ticket to the second round.

Ersan Ilyasova had another double-double for Turkey, finishing with game-highs of 23 points and 14 rebounds in a whopping 38 minutes of action. Cedi Osman logged 37 minutes with a lot of highs and lows — a go-ahead three-point play in overtime, an awful foul at the end of regulation and two blown free throws late in the extra session.

Osman had 15 points, but was just 4-for-15 from the floor. Melih Mahmutoglu scored 18 points for the Turks.

Team USA had an awful shooting night, but free throw shooting made the difference. The Americans were 25-for-32 at the line, 78.1 percent, enough to get the win. Khris Middleton led the U.S. with 15 points — including the go-ahead free throws with 2.1 seconds left in overtime.

Jayson Tatum had 11 points and 11 rebounds before leaving late with an apparent ankle injury. But Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe reported that Tatum has already been in contact with Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens to downplay the severity of the injury.

Kemba Walker did not shoot well, going 5-for-14 overall, but had 14 points, seven assists and three steals — not including stepping in to draw a crucial offensive foul in overtime.

But Team USA shot just 35.1 percent overall (27-for-77) and was 14-for-40 (35 percent) from 3-point range. The Turks hit 43.6 percent overall (34-for-78) and were 10-for-28 (35.7 percent) from deep.

In the first game of the day on Tuesday in Shanghai, the Czech Republic put itself in position to play for a spot in the second round, pulling away from Japan in the second half for an 89-76 victory.

Japan trailed by nine entering the final period, got behind by double-digits quickly and never was able to close the gap. The Japanese hurt themselves with 14 turnovers to just five for the Czechs, who had a 14-4 edge in points off turnovers and got 35 points off their bench to just 19 for Japan.

Blake Schilb had a huge night for the Czech Republic, scoring 22 points while hitting 6-of-7 from deep, and Jaromir Bohacik also jad 22 points. Ondrej Balvin grabbed eight rebounds, while Tomas Satoransky of the Chicago Bulls went for 15 points, seven assists and three steals.

Group E will conclude play on Thursday, with the Turkey-Czech Republic starting the action at 4:30 a.m. Eastern, followed by Team USA looking to head to the second round with a 3-0 record when it takes on Japan at 8:30 a.m. Eastern.