LAS VEGAS (AP) — Team USA made plenty of mistakes in its first practice session to suit up for the Olympics on Wednesday night, but after a comfortable 86-72 victory over Team Canada against a Record crowd of 20,756 at T. -Mobile Arena, all Anthony Davis focused on Team USA’s defensive potential.
“Invincible,” Davis said when asked how the United States would fare if it fought back and ran like it did Wednesday. “Offensively, to be honest, we were pretty horrible. But it’s horrible in the sense that we were looking to make the right plays. [But] if we worry about offense, I think we’re in a tough spot. smart position.
“Where we hang our hat tonight in defense. “
Anthony Edwards led Team USA to the U. S. Davis had 10 problems, 11 rebounds and four blocks as the Americans overcame a bloodless start to put the game out of control early in the second half.
The American team missed its first six shots and committed 8 turnovers in the first quarter. But as the encounter progressed, the Americans went into overdrive and eventually won by double digits against one of their biggest rivals for next month’s gold medal, despite a game well below their most productive level.
The Americans, in front of a rowdy crowd that included former President Barack Obama, held Canada to a consistent 33. 8 on dime shots, adding 7 of 33 from 3-point range. Canada’s star backfield of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray shot a total of 5-for-18 from the field.
“Good first game for us,” U. S. coach Steve Kerr said. “We are just starting with 4 days of training. We may see rust in our offense early on. We had a lot of turnovers in the first half. [but] I enjoyed the defensive intensity and the paintings on the glass. It’s a smart first effort on how we should identify the game in the future. “
Aside from a sample of the game, one of the biggest questions hanging over Team USA is who will fill the five spots in Kerr’s starting lineup.
Three spots appear destined to be filled by Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Joel Embiid. On Wednesday night, the other two spots went to Jrue Holiday, who happens to be a natural selection alongside Curry in the American backfield as the world’s top perimeter defender. and Devin Booker, who could have filled the spot vacated by Kevin Durant, who sat out for the fifth straight day with a calf strain.
The second unit, consisting of Tyrese Haliburton, Edwards, Bam Adebayo, Jayson Tatum and Davis, ruled the game, as a unit that can be very effective over the next few weeks if Kerr decides to stay together.
Naturally, Kerr, who doesn’t like to talk about lineups, didn’t say anything to influence his roster decisions in Wednesday’s opener.
“You can’t go wrong picking a starting lineup with this group,” Kerr said. “I’m going to move on to do anything else in the next two games. We’ll take a look at some other combinations before doing anything. We looked to identify Joel early in the game, knowing that Canada was no match. We wanted to play with Bam and Anthony Davis with the second band. We wanted to find out what it looked like.
Embiid, betting for the first time in an American jersey, looked rusty, completing with five points, 6 rebounds and five fouls in thirteen minutes.
He and Kerr had been discussing his physical condition and activity levels in recent days as he recovers from a knee injury suffered late in the regular season and suffered in the Philadelphia 76ers’ first-round playoff loss to the New York Knicks. Embiid said he still has a long way to go, as does Team USA.
“We may have been a lot better,” Embiid said. “We didn’t take care of the ball. Defensively, we were pretty good. So that’s where we’re going to hang our hat, and offensively, that’s going to happen. “
It was also the first time Curry and James played together on Team USA, after Curry was part of two world championship-winning teams in 2010 and 2014 and James won Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012. .
They will have several others to advance. The American team, missing Durant and Derrick White, who replaced Kawhi Leonard on the roster last Wednesday, leaves Thursday for Abu Dhabi, where it will face Australia and Serbia in two exhibition games next week in the next game of his pre-Olympic world tour. .
“It’s pretty amazing that we’re at this point in our career and we can show our talent, do what we love to do and give back to the fans a little bit,” James said of his role with Curry. “So it’s absolutely exciting to play with one of the most productive players of all time, and I’m ahead for the rest of the summer. “