Team USA might be missing several big names for the upcoming tournament in Rio, but these recent exhibitions have shown that the United States remains the clear team to beat this summer.
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Kevin Durant and Draymond Green were booed by the sellout crowd at Staples Center Sunday afternoon before Team USA’s 106-57 win over China.
Once more, Kevin Durant led a high-octane Team U.S. offense with 19 points and five assists.
Next up, Team USA comes to ORACLE ARENA on Tuesday, July 26th, to face China (again). “I’m sure that everybody has got something that’s nagging but once they get with us and practices begin, all that has a habit of going away”. Check out all their accomplishments here and get excited for cheering on the US women as they chase Olympic history! It would be another minute or so until Klay Thompson hit his team’s first 3-pointer of the contest to take a 7-4 lead, but over the final 3:37 of the first quarter, USA Basketball outscored China on a 19-6 run to distance themselves for good.
At the helm of the U.S. squad is Duke Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski, his third time doing so, along with a string of assistant coaches, like Syracuse Orange head coach Jim Boeheim, current Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau, and former Oklahoma City Thunder associate head coach Monty Williams. The 101-70 loss to Team USA in the 2008 Beijing Olympics was the most favorable result in the history of Chinese basketball against the Americans.
“I can’t wait”, Durant said. “He’s one of the great players in the league right now”.
He finished the night with 12 points, five rebounds, three blocked shots, two assists, and two steals in 17 minutes on the court.
Yi Jianlian led China with 18 points and seven rebounds, as he was a flawless 8-of-8 from the free throw line.
Stephen Curry opted out of the Olympics this year, so Durant has become the adopted Splash Brother filling in for his new teammate. Two decades ago, he was at the helm of a China side that beat Angola and Argentina in its first two games at the Atlanta Olympics before crashing to a 133-70 defeat to a U.S. team that had Shaquille O’Neal, Scottie Pippen, Hakeem Olajuwon and other NBA All-Stars. Golden State is the NBA’s new villain, and this team will be the most reviled since LeBron James left to join the Miami Heat in 2010. “But there have been challenging points in each game”.
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With two-time reigning silver medalist Spain and rival Argentina leading off Group B, Team USA shares Group A with Australia, China, France, Serbia, and Venezuela. “We got better. We shared the ball even better”.
