Both Durant and Draymond Green were booed in Los Angeles while playing for Team USA.
Advertisement
Once more, Kevin Durant led a high-octane Team U.S. offense with 19 points and five assists. “We’re really growing together as a group”.
The Chinese team’s most recognizable name to North Americans is Yi Jianlian, the Milwaukee Bucks’ choice with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2007 draft.
For Team China, the game was more of a master class in basketball. Often overshadowed by Clippers teammates Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, Jordan finished with 12 points, five rebounds and three blocks.
However, China’s two newest draftees, Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin, didn’t quite meet expectations, scoring just 2 points and 1 point respectively.
When told he had been booed in pregame introductions, Durant seemed surprised: “No, I didn’t hear it”.
After that, he’ll get more of a taste of what his new National Basketball Association journey will bring when he visits Chicago’s United Center and Houston’s Toyota Center before Team USA officially begins its quest for Olympic gold in Rio de Janeiro.
Team USA was up 55-29 by halftime and continued rolling throughout the second half.
China connected on just 30.9 percent of their shots, and 26 Chinese turnovers led to 36 U.S. points. Krzyzewski is still tinkering with lineups and his rotation, and in deference to Clippers center DeAndre Jordan playing at home, he had put Jordan in the starting lineup.
Team USA’s next game should be a different story. For all the talk of the lack of experience and leadership on this year’s team – only Durant and Carmelo Anthony played in the 2012 Summer Olympics- the talent gap, particularly against the teams the Americans will play on this exhibition tour, is still virtually insurmountable.
“When you’re out there right now, you don’t even think about the fact that we are teammates”, Green said.
“Our defense was there pretty much the whole game”.
And that’s not even counting the U.S. women having won six of the past eight World Championships titles, going 63-2 but settling for third after semi-final losses in 1994 at Australia and 2006 in Brazil. He’s really, I think, one of the great players in the league right now-and an fantastic teammate.
“Here, the Chinese team is a younger team”.
Advertisement
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant (35) celebrate against the Golden State Warriors during the first quarter in Game 3 of the NBA basketball Western Conference finals in Oklahoma City, Sunday, May 22, 2016.
