Team USA takeaways: The Steph Curry-LeBron James connection, a spark plug and big adjustments

LAS VEGAS — Here are some observations from USA Basketball’s first exhibition game, an 86-72 win over Canada, before the team heads to Abu Dhabi.

Five-man units

Coach Steve Kerr ran out the hockey shifts for large parts of the evening, starting Stephen Curry, Devin Booker, LeBron James, Jrue Holiday and Joel Embiid. Canada jumped out to an expected lead while the turnovers mounted and the sloppiness was evident.

The second unit was anchored by Anthony Davis, with Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton, Jayson Tatum and Bam Adebayo — a clean 10-man rotation with Kevin Durant out and Derrick White yet to join.

You could see the overpassing and hesitancy in the opening 10-minute quarter, no one wanting to be too assertive. Only Curry had a field goal for the starters in the period.

“You know, we’re really just getting started, four days of practice,” Kerr said. “You can see the rust on the offensive end. A lot of turnovers in the first half especially.”

Jrue Holiday and Stephen Curry were among the starters in Team USA’s first exhibition game. (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)

Kerr has warned reporters not to put too much into which lineup starts the exhibition games, that he’ll mix and match before the team heads to Paris. But you can see where Holiday fits in terms of ball pressure — he’s the perimeter stopper and that’s needed with an older Curry and James in the first unit.

“You kind of can’t go wrong, picking a starting lineup with this group,” Kerr said. “So I think I told you guys the other day, I’m going to do something different. The next two games we’re going to just look at a few different combinations before we settle on anything.”

The Stephen Curry-LeBron James connection

One thing it appears Kerr wants to explore, the Curry and James connection. When the lineups were mixed during the rare instances, those two were on the floor together. James on the break or in semi-transition is looking for Curry, and one of his passes hit the expensive seats where former USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo and former USA Basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski were seated.

James…

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Author : Yahoo Sports

Publish date : 2024-07-11 13:56:00

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