Kevin Durant and Team USA walloped China, 106-57, in an exhibition game at Staples Center in preparation for the Rio Olympics on Sunday night, but the juiciest story wasn’t the final score.
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The game at Staples Center, home of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, was a preview of the teams’ scheduled August 6 clash in Rio de Janeiro, in the first-round opener for each.
With a squad boasting the starpower of probable starters Kevin Durant (game-high 23 points against Argentina), Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, Carmelo Anthony and DeMarcus Cousins, there isn’t likely to be a repeat of that disappointment any time soon. “We should have won, but the way we won was excellent”. However, it’s not often that a player is complimentary of a crowd that booed him. Thompson finished the game with 17 points, three rebounds, and two assists.
In his postgame comments, Chinese coach Gong Luming admitted via a translator that the result was decided before the game even started. The Chinese team shot just 32 percent from the field, committed 26 turnovers (to USA’s 13) and got outrebounded, 39-26. He was joined in the starting lineup Sunday by two other players with Southern California ties.
“Everybody’s willing to play and make plays”, said guard Paul George. Zhou Qi, the 7ft 2in centre taken by the Rockets in the second round of the draft last month, scored two points on 1-for-6 shooting.
Yi Jianlian, a 7-foot power forward who played for four National Basketball Association teams from 2007-12 and was the sixth player chosen in the 2007 draft, led China with 18. Jordan responded with an early block and an alley-oop bucket, meeting yet another goal the team had set out.
“It’s bigger than the Clippers; it’s bigger than everything”, Jordan spoke about the pride with which he wears the Team USA jersey. “Not many people get to represent their country”. “I’ve dreamt about this since I was a kid”.
“As good as I thought he was on TV and on tape, he’s better”, Krzyzewski said. News stories displayed here appear in our category for Sports and are licensed via a specific agreement between LongIsland.com and The Associated Press, the world’s oldest and largest news organization. If USA heavily features its Warriors trio in that game to court favor with the Bay Area crowd, the rematch against China could even be more one-sided.
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When he suits up in Oakland on Tuesday for the first time since joining the Golden State Warriors, he’ll get another reception entirely.
