In its final exhibition game ahead of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Team USA picked up a 110-66 victory over Nigeria on Monday night inside Houston’s Toyota Center.
Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan had a nice night, scoring 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and adding five assists. NBA writer Sam Vecenie liked what he saw from DeRozan and hopes he’ll carry it over to the 2016-17 season.
Carmelo Anthony led the team with 19 points. According to the Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen, the New York Knicks star was unloading a little trash talk at his opponents.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski held both Paul George and Kyrie Irving out for the game to allow the players to rest minor injuries, per ESPN’s Marc Stein. Their combined absence had little impact on Team USA’s offense. The United States shot 53.9 percent from the field and 13-of-33 from beyond the arc.
The U.S. also out-rebounded Nigeria 47-28 and forced 22 turnovers.
Chamberlain Oguchi scored a game-high 21 points but didn’t have a lot of support from his teammates. He accounted for all four of his team’s made three-pointers and nearly one-third (eight) of its total field goals (27).
The U.S. had a bit of a sluggish start to the game. Nigeria wasn’t intimidated early by the talent disparity on the floor.
Ben Uzoh showed that fearlessness when he threw down a right-handed jam on Los Angeles Clippers big man DeAndre Jordan. The crowd came alive to cheer the Houston native, and more importantly for the Nigerians, the dunk trimmed Team USA’s lead to one point, 11-10, with 4:37 left in the first quarter.
The Associated Press’ Brian Mahoney thought it was a small victory for Nigeria.
That moment proved to be a turning point. Uzoh awoke the proverbial sleeping giant as the U.S. went on a massive run, per Feigen
As Team USA opened up a massive lead in the second quarter, DeRozan delivered one of the best dunks of the night—an emphatic one-handed throwdown on the baseline.
After taking a 54-30 lead into halftime, the U.S. didn’t let up in the second half. It outscored Nigeria 30-15 in the third quarter to essentially put the game out of reach for good. During Oguchi’s three-point barrage in the final frame, CBSSports.com’s Zach Harper wasn’t ready to throw in the towel for Nigeria.
The team begins the Olympics on Saturday against China. Despite missing a number of marquee stars for various reasons, Team USA will be the heavy favorite to win gold in men’s basketball. Even a weakened U.S. is good enough to beat any other country in the world.
During its five-game showcase, the United States won by an average of 43 points. Assuming Irving and George are healthy for Rio, Coach K will have even more firepower as he looks to lead Team USA to a third straight gold medal.
These guys carry a lot of responsibility on their shoulders. Certainly seeing all the fans that were here in Houston [helped]. But that’s exactly what we’re trying to do. I don’t think people realize, certainly Americans don’t realize, something as simple as a hoop and a basketball is a great start for us. There’ s just simply kids who don’t have the same resources as you’d see here or in many other nations.
“We’ve got an amazing group of guys who are trying the best they can to hopefully bring attention back to Nigeria,” Voigt said.
Courtesy: Bleacher Report.com
