China wrapped up the preliminary round with three wins after beating Uzbekistan 83-52 here on Sunday, finishing atop Group B at the Asian Basketball Champoinships for men.
The three-time defending champion will face Japan, who finished second in Group C behind host Qatar, in the second phase of the tournament on Monday.
Yao Ming was rested in Sunday's game when power forward Mo Ke took his starting position.
"We don't need to have Yao to beat Uzbekistan," said China's head coach Jonas Kaslauskas. "We had two long trainings yesterday and one more today. I think those are enough for Yao (to keep the form)."
