After three rounds of attempts, the US men’s basketball team finally won its first victory before heading to the Tokyo Olympics. U.S. team On Tuesday night, they defeated Argentina 108-80 in Las Vegas, ending the losing streak.
The convincing victory came 24 hours after the US team lost 8 points to Australia in an exhibition match. Nigeria defeated the United States 90-87 in a shocking upset on Saturday.
“I thought we maintained our [stamina] Very good,” American coach Gregg Popovich said on Tuesday. Via ESPN“When we played against Australia, we played very well, rebounded, defended, ran, ran halftime, fast, and then dissipated halftime. Tonight, we maintained this throughout the game. Hope This is a sign that we are getting better.”
Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal led the US team with 17 points and 6 rebounds, respectively. Durant made 9 shots in just 24 minutes, leading the team to a 16-point lead at halftime.
In the two rounds of the playoffs with the Brooklyn Nets, Durant can be said to have established himself The best basketball player in the worldIf he plays well like the NBA playoffs, the US team will be hard to beat at the Summer Olympics.
Durant looked rusty in the first two games, making 10 of 26 shots. Bill only scored a total of five goals in the two losses. Jason Tatum missed 8 of 12 attempts against Australia.
Tatum missed Tuesday’s game with a sore knee. According to reports, the injury was not serious and Tatum was taken a break as a preventive measure. ESPN.
Due to a sore right knee, Jason Tatum will not participate in the match against Argentina tonight. The U.S. team said that he was day after day.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) July 13, 2021
Perhaps even more striking is the list of NBA stars who did not play for the US team—LeBron James, Chris Paul, Anthony Davis and Stephen Curry, to name a few. Several players currently participating in the NBA Finals, including Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns and Juholidi and Chris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks, are expected to join the team after the end of the season.
The U.S. team does not have to wait until Tokyo to retaliate against Australia. The two teams are scheduled to meet again in Las Vegas on Friday.This is from the U.S. team Penultimate exhibition Before heading to the Olympics, they will seek a fourth consecutive gold medal there.
Argentina was defeated by Nigeria and Australia in the exhibition match. Australia is seen as the biggest threat to the US team in Tokyo.
“Our biggest thing is that we have to realize that this is not the NBA, and Coach Pope keeps emphasizing this every day.” Bill says“This is more physical. Boys are smarter. These guys have been playing together for five years, more than ten years. So they have experience and chemistry, and we are trying to develop in a short time.”
The U.S. team will start the Olympic group stage on July 25.
Photo: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images
