Either hosts Britain or China will exit the London Olympics with one victory when they meet Monday to complete their play in Group B.
Both 0-4 teams have been eliminated, with China at the bottom of the group with its minus-94 point differential while Britain is at minus-57.
Any hopes of reaching the quarterfinals were dashed Saturday when China fell 98-59 to Brazil and Britain lost 106-75 to Australia.
The 39-point margin of defeat continued a disturbing trend for China, the world's No. 10 team according to FIBA. The Chinese have been losing by bigger margins with each game, falling by 16 to Spain, 19 to Russia and 20 to Australia.
They trailed by 21 at halftime against Brazil and never threatened as star Yi Jianlian finished with five points and shot 1 of 9. Yi suffered a knee injury in the previous contest against Australia.
China had reached the quarterfinals in three of the previous four Olympics.
Britain was more competitive Saturday, leading by as many as 15 points in its bid to stay alive. The host nation, though, was defenseless while being outscored 70-29 in the second half.
"Of course it surprised me," coach Chris Finch told Britain's official Olympic website. "Seventy points in a half is not typical, it's not the way we try to play defense."
Finch described the second half as "surreal" since his team's 10-point edge at the break had him believing it could reach the knockout rounds.
"That's certainly a place we thought we could get to, but we didn't play 40 quality minutes," Finch said. "We were hurt by some old demons, our inability to handle pressure and cheap 3s really turned the game around."
Luol Deng scored nine points and shot 3 of 15 after averaging 21.3 points in his first three Olympic contests.
Britain, ranked No. 43, should have an edge on the glass since it is averaging 39.0 rebounds while China is last in the field with 30.5.
The Chinese are shooting 43.0 percent on 3-pointers to rank second behind the United States. They are the only team shooting better from beyond the arc than inside it, where they are at 40.0 percent.
China is also averaging a tournament-low 63.8 points.
Britain, making its first Olympic appearance in basketball since hosting the 1948 London Games, could be the more motivated team Monday.
"We've played well enough to deserve a victory but we have to go out and get it now," Finch said.
