US aiming for record sixth title as World Cup enters knockout phase

The tournament has been full of surprises with debutants enjoying upset victories

MANILA (Reuters) - The United States will be hoping to stay on track for a record sixth world title when they face Italy in the quarter-finals as the Basketball World Cup enters the knockout stage on Tuesday.

The tournament has been full of surprises with debutants enjoying upset victories and many expected title contenders, including defending champions Spain, going home early.

The U.S., the highest-ranked team left, are determined to start faster and be more aggressive having suffered their first loss at this tournament by 110-104 to Lithuania in a quarter-final seeding game on Sunday.

"There's no more coming out slow, or having stretches in the game where we're not playing as hard as we possibly could," Team USA guard Austin Reaves, who draws the loudest cheers from Philippine fans, said on Monday ahead of a practice session.

Unbeaten Lithuania square off with Serbia also on Tuesday and are ready for battle after their shock win over the U.S..

"The real game is going to start right now. We cannot think that we've achieved something," Lithuania centre Donatas Motiejunas told reporters on Sunday. On Wednesday, Germany play Latvia and Canada meet Slovenia.

Canada punched their ticket to the 2024 Paris Olympics, their first since 2000, after dethroning Spain with a thrilling 88-85 victory in Jakarta on Sunday.

FAVOURITES EXIT

The final four teams in the 2019 edition – Spain, France, Australia and Argentina – are all absent from the knockout stage, while early favourites Australia, France and Greece suffered disappointing early exits.