Lakers News: Where To Watch Team USA, Austin Reaves' FIBA Quarter-Finals Game Tuesday

Will the Americans survive to the medal round?

Following a disappointing 110-104 loss against the jumbo-sized (and now undefeated) Team Lithuania this past weekend, Team USA will try to stay alive tomorrow morning in Manila as the 2023 FIBA World Cup moves on to its Quarter-Finals round. 

Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Austin Reaves is a key sharpshooting and playmaking reserve for the Americans, now 4-1 following their Sunday defeat. Team USA did officially qualify for the Paris Olympics next summer thanks to the outcomes of a few other World Cup bouts Sunday, so yesterday wasn't a total wash at least.

Per USA Basketball's official site, Team USA will face off against Team Italy on ESPN 2 at 5:40 a.m. PT. The Americans should have the distinctive advantage, as the Italians have just one player, Utah Jazz small forward Simone Fontecchio, inked to an NBA team (usually a marker of player ability, given that the NBA is the most elite basketball league in the world by a significant margin).

A loss tomorrow would mean that Team USA would fail to medal for the first time since it finished in a dismal seventh place during the 2019 FIBA World Cup. Team USA always fields the most talented roster, but because there's so much personnel turnover from season-to-season, and because international squads generally seem to be more attuned to rule differences between FIBA play and NBA games, the Americans find themselves more vulnerable to potential upsets than they probably should be.

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