It’s Just a Walk in the Park : Basketball: U.S. Dream Team remains unchallenged, beating Puerto Rico, 119-81, to reach final.

Whew, that was tough.

Tiring after a week of golf days and basketball nights, the Dream Team eased into the Tournament of the Americas final Friday in a relative cliffhanger, edging Puerto Rico, 119-81.

Before Friday, the smallest U.S. victory had been by 41 points.

The average was 56.

All that remains before the U.S. pros can return to their home courses is to dispatch the winner of Friday’s late Brazil-Venezuela game.

The irrepressible Brazilians, who toppled a team of U.S. collegians in the 1987 Pan American Games at Indianapolis, were eager to meet the grown-up Americans, even daring to tweak their noses in anticipation.

“I hope honestly that the NBA all-pro, all-universe team will play the best they can,” said veteran guard Marcel Souza last week.

“They have not played their best. They are hiding. They are playing for fun. I wish we play them in the finals. . . . If they are the Dream Team, we are the Nightmare Team.

“Their best--I want to see it. I want to say I played with the best American team. They are not playing now. (Michael) Jordan with golf. (Scottie) Pippen with suntan. (Souza apparently saw Pippen laying by a swimming pool.) What is this? We want to see 100-point difference. Everybody knows how they can play.”

And if his comments angered, say, Charles Barkley?

“I hope he gets mad,” Souza said, laughing. “I’m being humble. Don’t be confused. I want them to play basketball, not golf all day and say, ‘Oh, we got a pickup game against Canada tonight.’ ”

Souza’s comments did get Barkley’s attention.

“I’m amused,” Barkley said, without a smile. “I think nobody in his right mind wants to play this team. But they’re the Brazilians. They’re not in their right mind. They been sniffing too much coffee.

“We’re red-blooded Americans. We want everybody to get the American Dream or the Brazilian Dream. They want us. Hey, we’re happy for them.”

Not that the tension has exactly been increasing all week, but this was the most lackluster of the U.S. routs. The Americans ran up a 27-point lead in the first half, but the second was classic garbage time.

“We’re ready to get out of here,” Barkley said. “I think we got a little nonchalant tonight.

“I don’t understand why we’ve got to play these last two games. We’ve already qualified for the Olympics, and the only thing that can happen is someone gets hurt.”

Someone can definitely get bored, but perhaps a little insult can revive American passions.

Olympic Notes

Larry Bird, who hasn’t played since the first game against Cuba, sat out again. He met Thursday with USA Basketball officials and physicians to discuss returning to Boston. They decided he would remain for the end of the tournament, then return home for two weeks of therapy on his sore back. If he’s OK, he will join the team in camp at Monte Carlo. . . . “I don’t know what I wanted to do, go to Boston (or) go to French Lick (Ind.),” Bird said. “At home I can rest better because here we have functions to attend, but I’d rather be here. If you’re part of a team, you should be with the team as much as possible.” . . . Bird is expected to remain on the team. Olympic officials want to have him in Barcelona, however limited his play, and Bird wants to participate, on whatever basis. . . . Magic Johnson, on his easy adjustment here: “I already knew what was going to happen here. I’m me. I’ve been me for all the months I’ve been working out.” . . . Johnson on the U.S. performance: “We need some competition. It’s been hard because these teams have been happy just to have us dunk on them.”