USA Basketball 2014 World Cup: #USABMNT Upends New Zealand, SplashBrothers With 12 Apiece (Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account)
BILBAO EXHIBITION CENTRE, BILBAO, SPAIN — New Zealand (“NZL”), which surprised Turkey on opening day only to squander a double-digit lead and lose by 3, then lost by 13 to the Dominican Republic, wasn’t supposed to and didn’t provide much of a challenge to USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team (#USABMNT).
Team USA took care of business, 98-71.
Here’s a rundown of the #SplashBrothers’ — Golden State Warriors backcourt mates Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson — performances.
FIRST QUARTER
Curry got out of the gate and committed an early turnover, driving left-to-right to the paint and hearing the whistle, only to be stunned that it was a travel call and not a hip-check. From courtside, it appeared to be the right call.
Whereas on Sunday Curry had to fight through a few misses before finally landing a splash from downtown, where he slapped his hands on his thighs in exasperation, Steph got an early start today. Anthony Davis found himself pinned inside near the baseline and, before teetering near out-of-bounds, found the sharp-shooter in the corner. With a loud slap of the ball catching it, Curry lofted a three-pointer that everyone in the building who’s seen a Warriors game knew he would launch.
Shortly thereafter, Curry was part of another highlight, receiving an outlet and immediately finding a streaking Kenneth Faried for an alley oop delivered from midcourt.
After a turnover in which the ball simply slipped from his hand, one of three miscues tallied in the quarter, and a floater made from being in the right place at the right time after DeMarcus Cousins had the ball popped out from his hands, Thompson checked in with 4:05 to go and Team USA up 17-10.
But #SplashBrothers would only last for a few relatively calm minutes.
Curry made another three after Rudy Gay rebounded a Thompson miss from downtown, in which he slightly mishandled a swing pass from Derrick Rose.
After Curry checked out, Gay found another Splash Brother for three again, skipping the ball past two teammates to find Thompson in the far corner.
SECOND QUARTER
In the second quarter, NZL’s Everard Bartlett hit a shot on Thompson, so naturally Klay came back with a nice take off a curl, making you wonder if Team USA has some sort of “score-on-the-guy-who-just-scored-on-us” rule.
Thompson would hit another rhythm three that had relatively low trajectory before Curry checked back in for him.
More tidbits:
- Curry ran several figure-8’s on defense chasing his guy around multiple picks.
- Curry’s passes were not on point today, with at least two to Davis that were behind him.
- As he’s doing more and more with the Dubs, Thompson tipped the ball to a teammate on a defensive rebound.
But Klay had his best defensive play yet, seeing the ball exposed on the player he was guarding, swiping in with his right hand cleanly, and picking up the steal.
USA took at 57-35 lead into halftime.
THIRD QUARTER
In the third quarter, Team USA’s halfcourt offense was focused on post ups, to the dismay of #DubNation.
The Splash Brothers had an oppoortunity to make a long-distance connection, but it resulted in Curry’s fifth turnover. With Thompson streaking down the left side after a rebound that was outletted to Curry, Steph threw the ball that sailed into the stanchion, out of Klay’s reach.
Smiling, Curry swung his arms, exasperated that Klay didn’t put it in fifth gear towards the hoop. Thompson was his typical stone-faced self but he acknowledged the mistake.
It was a rare case of showing a little extra emotion towards a USA teammate. By contrast, James Harden had thrown a terrible, unforced pass to Curry that went out of bounds. Steph’s response to that? Clapping his hands in encouragement to the team.
Later, Curry would hawk a steal and get enough over the rim to convert the uncontested “lil dunk”, as one of our fans would describe it.
Team USA was still up big, 75-54, heading into the final frame.
FOURTH QUARTER
USA would go on to trounce New Zealand, 98-71, but the 4th quarter offered a few mini-highlights for DubNation’s beloved Splash Brothers.
Curry had a wrap-around behind-the-back pass for Davis, as well as an expertly timed blocked shot on NZL’s point guard.
Towards the end of the game and with the shotclock winding down on a New Zealand possession, Thompson made a smart play to leave his man and challenge the shooter with the shotclock about the expire.
As Thompson leaked out, the shot was way off and one of USA’s bigs got the rebound, easily sending the outlet to Klay for an uncontested layup that he dropped in the basket instead of dunking.
Curry finished with 12 points on 2-for-4 from downtown, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 blocked shot and 3 personal fouls. He also had 5 turnovers.
Thompson also collected 12 points, to go along with 2-for-5 from beyond the arc, 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 1 turnover.
USA will face the Dominican Republic tomorrow at 12:30PM Pacific time.
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