USA Basketball 2014 Exhibition: Klay Thompson Scores 11 in Blowout Win against Dominican Republic (Photo Via @usabasketball twitter page)
Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson were both in action for tonight’s USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team (#USABMNT) game against the Dominican Republic National Basketball Team. The game took place in New York City at the famous Madison Square Garden. Team USA earned the victory with a 105-62 routing of the Dominican Republic.
Curry didn’t drop 54 or have a triple double this time around at MSG, but he did contribute to the win. He got the start as he has in all scrimmage games thus far, but with the late scratch of Derrick Rose more minutes were needed from the guards.
The game got off to a quick start as Team USA came out firing. Curry did not attempt a shot in the first quarter but did pick up 2 assists in the opening minutes.
Thompson entered the game about halfway through the first quarter and hit his first jump shot he attempted from mid-range. The #SplashBrothers didn’t play together for very long in the opening period as Curry picked up an early foul, which forced him to take a seat on the bench.
The first quarter ended with Team USA up 28-17.
The second quarter saw Team USA pick up right where they left off. With Curry back on the floor, the human torch caught a little spark hitting two quick 3-pointers early in the quarter.
Team USA continued to stretch their lead throughout the period. Thompson found his rhythm behind the arc and ended the half with 10 points, which was tied for leading all scorers with teammate, James Harden. By the time the first half buzzer sounded, Team USA found themselves up 53-31.
Much of the same ensued during the second half as Team USA continued to out run, out shoot, and out play the Dominican Republic squad. Both Splash Brothers continued to light it up from the field as each cashed in on easy layups and jump shots.
They also proved themselves on the defensive end of the floor as both of them played lock down defense and altered many shots.
The third quarter ended on a rare positive note for the Dominican Republic as Francisco Garcia hit a buzzer beating 3-pointer to trim the massive lead. Team USA led 80-45 at the end of three.
The fourth quarter started with a couple of Dominican Republic buckets which were quickly answered by the United States. With the game well in hand, both Curry and Thompson got to take the fourth quarter off. Curry finished with 8 points 3 assists and 2/4 from deep. Thompson tallied 11 points on 8 shots and also hit 2 from behind the arc.
Team USA’s next match up will be Friday August 22nd when they take on Puerto Rico in the same building. The game can be seen live on ESPN2 at 4PM Pacific, and as always, we will be tweeting the game live from our twitter page.
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