Good start on golden road: Team USA puts on show defeating Canada in Vegas exhibition

Canada v United States

LAS VEGAS — Team USA knew they were in a city where everyone expects to be entertained.

They did not disappoint.

After a slow start, Team USA showed off its superior size, depth and athleticism to beat Canada 86-72, behind 13 points from Anthony Edwards and a dozen from Stephen Curry.

Nobody should read too much into an exhibition win, but the USA’s new star-studded, veteran roster comfortably handled the team that knocked them out of the FIBA World Cup a year ago.

“I love the defensive intensity and the work on the glass. So it was a good first effort,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We needed to set a tone for how we want to play and I think we did that.”

After much speculation, Kerr rolled out a starting five of Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday, LeBron James and Joel Embiid. That group didn’t start as planned, opening 0-of-6 shooting from the floor and fell down 11-1 out of the gate.

“There’s a temptation to defer, there’s a temptation to overthink every possession because everybody can make a play, Curry said. “And when you have an advantage, you try to keep the game as simple as possible. And that first unit, we struggled with that. And then once we got settled in, it seemed like everybody got a little bit more comfortable as we got deeper into the game and hopefully the next four exhibition games we have to see more progress.”

Curry eventually broke the slow early streak with a three. Kerr had warned this team of stars that this experience would not be like an NBA game where they can start slowly and find their rhythm as they go.

“All these players are used to getting 15-20 shots a game they might only get five or six with us, so they have to get acclimated to FIBA and to this style, this roster,” Kerr said after a practice this week.

What changed the game was the USA’s bench unit: Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo. That group brought the defensive intensity and then ran off of it, and the vibe of the game changed. Edwards’ athleticism is part of that.

The other thing that became clear in this first game was that Kerr learned his lesson…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/good-start-golden-road-team-055526562.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-07-11 05:55:26

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