Monday Night Basketball proved to be the debut of Golden State Warriors head coach, Steve Kerr, as the new head coach for the USA Men’s National Basketball Team.
It was a fellow basketball rival and world #20 Puerto Rico that opened as the first opposition of the Steve Kerr era, and the game proved to be very close in the first half, with Team USA leading 50-43.
But then, a classic Team USA third quarter saw the (US) Americans extend the lead to 84-61. And then, Team USA increased their lead to a 43 point win, 117-74, as the clock struck 0.00 in the 4th quarter.
The main point of American dominance came at the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth quarter when Team USA took a 74-61 lead, and went on a 20-0 run to make it 94-61.
Going into this World Cup warmup exhibition game, many Americans saw the 2023 team as weak, and many have stated that the USA will be lucky to get a bronze.
However, the Americans showed a high intensity on the defensive end, and a very good balance of high efficiency and team play on the offensive end. This bode well to allow Team USA to achieve one of their largest victories in the previous ten years over a top 20 nation.
Here were the stats for Team USA:
Jalen Brown: 11 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 3-8 FG.
Anthony Edwards: 15 points, 4 assists, 4 steals, 7-13 FG.
Brandon Ingram: 11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks, 3-8 FG.
Mikal Bridges: 14 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 6-9 FG.
Jalen Jackson, Jr.: 12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks, 6-9 FG.
Tyrese Haliburton: 7 points, 12 assists, 4 rebounds, 3-5 FG.
Austin Reeves: 9 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 4-9 FG.
Cam Johnson: 15 points, 6 rebounds, 1 block, 7-10 FG.
Paolo Banchero: 7 points, 1 rebound, 1 block, 3-4 FG.
Bobby Portis: 11 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3-4 FG.
Walker Kessler: 5 points, 4 rebounds, 2-4 FG.
Josh Hart did not play.
The USA will leave the T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada to another tourist hotspot for their next World Cup preparation game at the Palacio de Deportes José María Martín Carpena in Malaga (Andalusia), Spain. The USA will play (#7) Slovenia and (#1) Spain at 3:30 pm (ET) on August 12th and August 13th respectively, before heading to the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, UAE to play Greece (#9) and Germany (#11) on August 18th and August 20th respectively at 12 pm (ET). You can check out the schedule and where each game can be seen on TV with this link.
The takeaway from today’s game is that the USA is far ahead of where most experts thought they would ever be, even at the World Cup itself, making the feelings of the nation change to one of excitement and positivity for this young USA National Team at the 2023 World Cup that begins on August 26th for USA.
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