With Kevin Durant and Team USA preparing for the 2016 Olympics, the squad made a stop in Los Angeles to play a tuneup game against China at the Staples Center on Sunday night.
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For the second straight game, Kevin Durant led all players in scoring with 19 points on 81 percent shooting from the field including 5-of-7 from beyond the arc.
DeMar DeRozan scored 13 points for the United States and DeMarcus Cousins added 12 points and seven rebounds. The two teams meet again on Wednesday at 10 a.m. (via satellite).
After opening their showcase tour by trouncing Argentina in Las Vegas on Friday night, the USA team posted another rout at a packed Staples Center.
The USA Men’s National Team displayed their diverse talents during an exhibition game against China’s national team. In 2004, they failed to win the gold medal for the first time in 3 Olympics, taking home the bronze instead.
Even with superstars like Stephen Curry, Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and LeBron James pulling out of consideration for this Olympic team, Team USA is so much better than the teams they’ll be playing during these warm-up games, it’s hard to assess just where the American team is. Krzyzewski added that they are learning more about each other and that they are growing together as a unit.
When he suits up in Oakland on Tuesday for the first time since joining the Golden State Warriors, he’ll get another reception entirely. They’re two different teams.
Klay was solid as well, shooting 6-10, including 4-8 from behind the arc to end with 17 points (second highest on the team behind Durant).
Former LSU women’s basketball standouts Seimone Augustus and Sylvia Fowles will be in action Monday evening as the USA Women’s National Team begins its exhibition slate in preparation for the Olympic Games in Rio.
“We’ve only been together a week, but it seems like we’ve been teammates for years”, Jordan said.
Although Team USA failed to return most of its members from 2012, Durant and Anthony were their top scorers, so they seemingly got the most crucial pieces back.
“All of them. They can all shoot, and so in your coverages and how you react, they have good movement, which gives them windows of opportunity”, Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski said after Friday’s win.
“I can’t wait”, Durant said.
Jordan finished with 12 points, five rebounds, three blocks and a parade of rim-rattling dunks. He was not a bad player and a great, great guy.
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Team USA got off to a slow start in the first quarter, but outscored China by 27 points in the second and third quarters combined.
