USA vs. Japan: Odds, Time, Live Stream for 2019 FIBA World Cup

Remember how the USA men's national basketball team had some concerns entering the FIBA World Cup? Well, those came to fruition during its last game.

Although Team USA improved to 2-0 during Group E pool play, it nearly suffered a loss in its matchup against Turkey on Tuesday. Khris Middleton made two free throws with 2.1 seconds remaining in overtime to lift USA to a 93-92 win.

Now, with Team USA guaranteed to advance to the second round of the World Cup, it will look to secure a more commanding victory when it takes on Japan to conclude pool play on Thursday. Here's everything you need to know heading into that matchup.

Game Information

Date: Thursday, Sept. 5

Time: 8:30 a.m. ET

Live Stream: ESPN+

Odds (via OddsChecker): USA -29

Preview

Before Team USA secured a victory over Turkey, it had multiple opportunities to lose.

Turkey missed four free throws in the final nine seconds of overtime, with Cedi Osman and Dogus Balbay each missing a pair, helping USA pull out a close win. And although USA nearly lost to the No. 17 ranked team in the world, it remained positive after the victory.

"It was anybody's game; we will accept the win, but it was anybody's to win," USA coach Gregg Popovich said, according to ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst. "We have to get better than that, but playing a fine team like that gives us another example of how good it can be when everybody knows what they're supposed to be doing on the court."

But as Popovich stated, Team USA knows it will need to play better in order to win the FIBA World Cup for the third straight time.

"There is so much room for improvement," guard Kemba Walker said, per Windhorst. "We have a bunch of young guys, we're a new team, we're still learning. We're still learning each other. But I think [Tuesday], that win, it's going to help us, you know, take this team to another level."

Team USA has relied on a balanced scoring attack thus far, as six players scored in double figures in the victory over Turkey—Middleton (15 points), Walker (14), Joe Harris (11), Jayson Tatum (11), Myles Turner (11) and Harrison Barnes (10).

However, Tatum left the game with a sprained left ankle, which will be reevaluated Wednesday.

Even if Tatum can't play, Thursday should provide an opportunity for USA to not have to play as close of a game as the one against Turkey.

Japan has opened the World Cup with back-to-back losses, falling to Turkey 86-67 and losing against the Czech Republic 89-76. It was believed that Japan would be the weakest team in Group E, and so far, that has proven to be the case.

Although USA lost an exhibition game to Australia and had a close call against Turkey, it should get back on track with a large victory against Japan. If that doesn't happen, then there will be legitimate cause for concern heading into the next phase of the FIBA World Cup.