Team USA finished with a perfect 3-0 record in Group E competition at the FIBA World Cup competition in China and advanced as a first seed in their second round of games following a 93-45 blowout of Japan in Shanghai.
But the Americans will have a tough harder time advancing when they arrive in Shenczhen, where they will play two more games. Team USA will face Greece (2-1) Sept. 7, followed by a matchup against unbeaten Brazil (3-0) Sept. 9. Times for both games have not yet been announced.
Team USA, which led 13-0 to start the game and 23-9 at the end of the first quarter, had control from the opening tip. The USA finished with a 58-33 rebounding margin and got 46 points from the bench.
Forward Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics had a breakout performance for the Americans with 20 points. Point guard Kemba Walker of the Celtics—Team USA’s best all-around player– added 15 points and 8 assists. Forward Harrison Barnes of the Sacramento Kings had 14 points and 8 rebounds and guards Joe Harris of the Brooklyn Nets and Donovan Mitchell of Utah added 10 points apiece. Team USA’s offense moved much more efficiently, making 14 threes against Japan’s zone.
The USA only had 10 available players. Forward Jayson Tatum of the Celtics- a starter– is out for at least two games with a sprained left ankle suffered in the final seconds of an overtime win in a 93-92 win against troublesome Turkey Tuesday. Guard Marcus Smart of the Celtics—a rotation player—did not play and is day to day with a quad injury.
Tatum, who was averaging 10.5 points, was a key starter who made two key free throws that forced overtime in the overtime win against Turkey, will not be cleared until he rests for five -days before he is re-evaluated Monday, the day the Americans play Brazil and could face elimination. He missed the Japan game and will miss the game against dangerous Greece.
USA national coach Gregg Popovich experimented with his lineups, playing a two-headed center of Brooks Lopez of the Milwaukee Bucks and Mason Plumlee against the smaller Japanese. He started Nets’ sharpshooter Joe Harris in place of Tatum and Harris responded with 10 points and two threes.
Brazil overcame a double figure deficit to beat Greece, 79-78, in a group thriller at Nanjing, Tuesday. NBA MVP Giannis Anteokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and Greece finished with just 13 points and fouled out late in the fourth quarter. Brazil’s Alex Garcia, 39, seemed to stifle Anteokounmpo at every turn.
“Why this sport is wonderful,’’ Brazil coach Aleaksandar Petrovic said. “You have a guy who won MVP, he’s 23-years old, and who stops hm tonight? The guy who is 40 years old and kicks his ass.’’
Antetokounmpo is still one of the two most dangerous players in the tournament, along with All NBA forward Nikola Jokiv of Serbia. “He’s going to come out to kill us, there’s no question,’’ Team USA center Brook Lopez, a teammate of Anteokounmpo with the Bucks. “He’s going to want to tear out heads off. I wouldn’t expect anything else.’’
Team USA hasn’t faced Greece, the eighth-ranked team in the world, in major competition since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Greece was the last team to beat the Americans in the World Cup or Olympics, dating to the 2006 2006 World Cup semis. The Americans has now 45 elite international games since then.
