Russia's never-say-die attitude has made it the surprise of the tournament to date, and it's been rewarded by not having to face the heavily favored United States until a possible gold-medal showdown.
The Group B winner ends preliminary round play Monday when it faces Australia, which likely won't have the same good fortune of avoiding the Americans in the quarterfinals.
Russia (4-0) earned a thrilling 75-74 win over Brazil on Thursday when Vitaliy Fridzon nailed a 3-pointer with four seconds remaining. Fridzon then hit the clinching free throws to finish with 24 points in Saturday's 77-74 win over Spain, as Russia secured the group's top spot after overcoming a 20-2 deficit.
"We've got character," said Andrei Kirilenko, who came in averaging 23.2 points but scored only eight on 2 of 8 shooting. "In those games, if you keep grinding, you keep shaving off points one by one."
The Russians won't have to face the United States until the final, which would mark a rematch of the controversial 1972 gold-medal game.
"We won the group today," said American-born coach David Blatt, whose team didn't qualify for the Olympics until July. "It's a good feeling. I'd hoped that we would finish in one of the top three spots, to be honest with you, just so that we could avoid the American team in the quarters."
Australia (2-2) likely won't have the same luck.
Patty Mills scored a tournament-high 39 points in Saturday's 106-75 win over Britain, but the Australians are guaranteed to finish fourth in Group B. Assuming the United States beats Argentina, the Boomers will have to face the Americans in Wednesday's quarterfinals.
Australia trailed by 10 at halftime and by as many as 15 in the third quarter Saturday, but outscored Britain 70-29 in the second half.
Mills' 22.5 points per game are tied with Argentina's Luis Scola for the best average of the Olympics.
Each team's seed is guaranteed for the quarterfinal round, but Kirilenko insists Russia is not looking past Australia. He also said the talk of his squad facing the United States in the final game is premature.
"We can't prepare for the American team right now," Kirilenko said. "If we play them, we'll get prepared one day before, get a scouting report and we will talk about them.
"Right now, I think it is senseless. We have a lot teams in front of us and we have to play them first."
