Cousins led the home team with 15 rebounds to go with his 14 points. Krzyzewski praised George’s play and said he was perhaps in the best shape of any of the Olympians as majority were playing their first game action in weeks. Both teams struggled early, but the US broke out of their funk as Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson opened up from three point range.
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“We got better today”.
Team USA’s Facebook page will have a live stream of the NBA TV broadcast. I think we are learning more about one another. Teammate Zhao Jiwei put in 14 points on 10 shots. But then Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson came in and started raining 3-pointers and the Americans went on a 16-6 run to close out the quarter.
“We’re so talented”, George said. Two other China players were drafted in the second round of June’s draft: Houston’s Zhou Qi tallied two points and five fouls, while Memphis’ Wang Zhelin scored one point in 22 minutes.
Team USA again looked remarkable in dismantling Olympic-quality competition for the second consecutive exhibition.
It would be hard to label any lineup that boasts former NBA Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant, 2016 NBA champion Kyrie Irving and two-time Olympic gold medalist Carmelo Anthony a “B Team” yet that will be the perception.
In the meantime, Krzyzewski said he’s pushing the team focus on building a defensive identity because of the versatility and athleticism they have on that side of the ball.
Team USA also received double-figure scoring from the Toronto Raptors’ DeMar DeRozan (13 points), the Los Angeles Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan (12 points), the Sacramento Kings’ DeMarcus Cousins (12 points) and the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kyrie Irving (10 points). “Here it’s a little different because most of these guys we’ve never played before”.
Team USA women’s basketball Coach Geno Auriemma is “proud” of the WNBA players who used their platform to protest a spate of recent shootings perpetrated by and against police officers.
“I can’t wait”, Durant said.
Such was their dominance that coach Chuck Daly did not call for one timeout through the course of the Olympics, some games even saw opposing players asking for autographs of the United States team’s stars, clearly in awe of their star power. “The guys want to play it”.
U.S. and China are right back at it again on Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET at Oracle Arena, as Durant makes his first appearance on his new home court in Oakland.
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Meanwhile, China will still rely on the former National Basketball Association player Yi Jianlian and two of 2016’s National Basketball Association draft picks Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin this Tuesday to avenge the earlier defeat.
