Team USA is down to just 10 players against Japan after it was announced that Marcus Smart will not play in the game on Thursday due to a left quad strain, per ESPN's Brian Windhorst.
Marcus Smart is out for Team USA with a left quad strain vs. Japan. He will be day-to-day. Missed time with calf strain on same leg last month.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) September 5, 2019
Smart already missed a significant amount of time during Team USA's preparation last month due to the same injury, and it is unclear when he will suit up for the Americans once again. Although the injury isn't deemed serious, the team will probably take extra precautionary measures to ensure that the Boston Celtics guard's injury will not get worse.
Team USA is already missing the services of another Celtics player in Jayson Tatum, who suffered an ankle injury in their close win against Turkey a couple of days ago. If the American side will continue to be hampered by these injuries, it will be even tougher for them to win the FIBA World Cup gold.
So far, Team USA has garnered two wins in the tournament, dominating Czech Republic in their first game then taking a close victory against Turkey in the second. Should they win their game against Japan, they will head into the next round undefeated.
The Americans will begin the second round of their FIBA World Cup campaign on Saturday when they face the winner of the New Zealand-Greece game.
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