The result was a foregone conclusion before the US men’s national team and its counterpart from China took to the court before an enthused sellout crowd at Staples Center for a pre-Olympic exhibition game Sunday. DeMarcus Cousins grabbed 15 rebounds to go with his 14 points in just 16 minutes in the win.
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That brings Irving’s totals to 9.5 points, 5.0 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game during the first two exhibition games for Team USA.
Durant was third in National Basketball Association scoring last season by averaging 28.2 points per game while DeMar DeRozan and Paul George were also in the top 10.
He has a chance to be raucously welcomed by his new team in his new home court, when Team USA plays its second exhibition game against China on Tuesday at the Oracle Arena in Oakland. “There have been challenging points in each game and a huge thing is for us just to get to know one another but also how the game is called, the rules, the ball”. Even though it’s only an exhibition series happening right now, the United States has showed why they are more powerful than everyone else. A good chunk of that poor shooting also comes from Team USA being able to clamp down defensively and force them into tough scoring situations. However, during the last season, the two superstars were rivals in the Western Conference Finals and both played well in their respective teams.
“Here, the Chinese team is a younger team”.
And then in the offseason, Green added to his reputation with an incident in East Lansing for hitting (slapping?) a former Michigan State football player, among other accusations that didn’t put Green in the best of lights. Every U.S. player got quality time, with Green’s 12 minutes the least played by any American. “Our offense and our athleticism were a little too much for them”. Team USA defeated Team China by a score of 106-57.
And the two exhibitions with China, followed by the rest of the warm-up schedule will likely serve as a solid primer for group play and perhaps the tournament’s later stages.
Remarkably, Team USA hasn’t lost a game in 10 years.
Anthony, who’s seeking a record third gold medal, largely reflected Krzyzewski’s point of view as next month’s trip to Rio looms.
“Today, it was all about getting better”, Anthony said. “We still have a ways to go before we get to Rio”. “But with only five games, all we really need to work on is ourselves”. Krzyzewski added that they are learning more about each other and that they are growing together as a unit.
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U.S. held an overmatched and inexperienced China team to 31% shooting and forced 26 turnovers.
