The USA Basketball leading up to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games
The USA Basketball leading up to the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, the highlights took a little while to get off the ground, team USA going to against China again.
The Chinese National Team was able to play defense and contribute to the slow start from the United States.
It took over four minutes before Team USA scored its second basket of the night to take a 4-2 lead. 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 19-6 to distance themselves for good. From there, the United States dominated both ends of the floor, pushing the lead to more than 50 points in the second half.
Team USA won 106-57 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, just covering the minus-48.5 point spread from Las Vegas.
The two leading scorers for Team USA were new Golden State Warriors teammates Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant. KD was the leading scorer for the second straight exhibition this weekend after pacing the United States with 23 points in almost 21 minutes Friday against Argentina. Durant wasn’t quite as lethal against China but still led the way with 19 points in 18 minutes.
Thompson was right behind him with 17 points, and both players hit four 3-pointers. Durant was 5-of-7 from the field and 4-of-5 from downtown while Thompson was 6-of-10 from the field and 4-of-8 from deep. Klay’s first made 3-pointer of the game came on a pass to the wing from Durant, so the chemistry on the court is already picking up.
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