USABMNT 2014: #SplashBrothers Report vs Slovenia

USABMNT 2014: #SplashBrothers Report vs Slovenia (Photo: @warriors via USA Basketball)

PALAU SANT JORDI, BARCELONA, SPAIN — Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry reached #HumanTorch mode in his last outing against Mexico, but in preparation and guarded confidence for the game against Slovenia, in which Curry said they hadn’t taken any team lightly yet he certainly didn’t count on the referees affecting his game.

Curry committed three personal fouls and recorded just 7 minutes of play in the first two 10-minute quarters of the FIBA #Spain2014 World Cup of Basketball.

Here’s the #SplashBrothers report for the game. We’ll have more analysis, commentary, and/or highlights later.

Curry started alongside Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Anthony Davis, and Kenneth Faried, as usual. Meanwhile, Curry’s Warriors backcourt mate Klay Thompson as well as DeMarcus Cousins were the first subs.

FIRST QUARTER

• Curry tried to get things off early with a three, but bricked it way too hard off the glass.
• Irving finally passed to Curry, but Curry missed with an in-and-out from the left elbow.
• Curry delivered on the slip screen by Faried, and-one. That made it 4-2 early on.
• Curry fouled a big on a switch with Faried, but why didn’t Faried switch back?
• Curry got beat left by Goran Dragic on Dragic’s strong hand.
• Curry drove hard drive left, missed, but Davis got the rebound putback.
• Curry missed another 3, and Faried fouled on the rebound attempt.
• Curry subbed out at 5:00 to go as Thompson and Cousins came in for him and Davis.
• Thompson missed a 3-point attempt that was delivered by Derrick Rose, so the myth of Rose and Irving having tunnel vision for the #SplashBrothers was, at least, temporarily dispelled.
• Thompson had a right-handed take on Dormen Lorbek, but split the free throws to make it 20-15.
• Curry and Rudy Gay subbed in at 2:59 for Faried and Harden, the first appearance of the #SplashBrothers. It would last until near the end of the first quarter.
• In early transition, Curry saw Thompson going downcourt early and the result was a good 3. 23-15 now, approaching 2:00 remaining in the first.
• Thompson was fouled, missed one foul shot again. 24-15, 2:02 left.
• Touch foul on Curry, his second. Curry was quite frustrated by the call. It was a righthand drive by Klemen Prepelic.
• Thompson missed a long two.
• Curry got his third personal with just 9.7 seconds left. Another touch foul on a drive.

SECOND QUARTER

• Prepleic drained a three, but couldn’t find Thompson on the way back and paid the price. Klay drilled the trey from the left elbow.
• Thompson had an emphatic block and screamed while doing so, then got a jumper at the other end. At this point he had 10 points, leading the team.
• Back-to-back dunks by Faried off turnovers gave Team USA a 37-26 lead with 76:26 to go in the half. Faried led with 12 points.
• Thompson continued his stellar individual defense, foccing a Goran Dragic airball.
• Klay rimmed out a three and Slovenia stayed close, down just 43-34 with 3:19 to go.
• Thompson got a lot of minutes here due to Curry’s 3 fouls.

#USABMNT took a relatively slim 49-42 into halftime. At the half, Curry had 0 points, 3 fouls, 0 rebounds, 2 assists, while going 0-for-2 from downtown.

Thompson played 15 of the 20 minutes and had 10 points, 1 rebound, 1 blocked shot, while going 2-for-5 from 3-point land.

THIRD QUARTER

• Curry started the 2nd half despite the 3 personals. He tried to get immediately into rhythm, but missed a 2-pointer.
• However, he came back not too long after that with a gorgeous left-handed scoop.
• A tremendous steal by Irving led to a Curry run-out.
• In early transition, Curry dribbled between the legs with the same right hand, then as the defense was on its heels, drove hard right, down the lane, missed it, but Davis slammed it home. USA’s lead was now up to 16.
• On defense, Curry fed off the excitement of taking a stranglehold on the game. In one defensive sequence, he had a nice step around on the screen by Slovenian big man on the block, Jure Balazic, then got the steal after that. He was fouled in transition and drained both free throws, making it 74-54 with 2:52 to go. Thompson came in for Curry after the second made free throw.
• Thompson had an all-right-handed drive-and-flip, all with one hand.
• Thompson then participated and got the assist on a beautifully choreographed play: Harden-to-Klay then Klay-to-Cousins, who got an and-one.

FOURTH QUARTER

• The #SplashBrothers were back in as a pair with 8:27 to go and #USABMNT up, 93-64.
• Thompson hit a trey out of a baseline out-of-bounds misdirection play.
• Curry checked out at 6:18 as Thompson checked in.
• Thompson got to be the recipient of an alley oop via Rose.
• Thompson was feeling good after that slam. Drilled a “why not” step-back three to make it 107-72 with about 3:30 remaining.
• Running backwards on early transition, Thompson stole a long downcourt pass, giving him a stat in every category (except turnovers).
• Andre Drummond couldn’t finish on two Thompson alley oop deliveries.
• Mason Plumlee got a late dunk after Drummond blocked a shot and Thompson picked up the loose ball, throwing a touchdown pass to Plumlee.

#USABMNT ended up demolishing Slovenia, 119-76.

Curry finished with 6 points, 0-for-3 from downtown, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 1 steal, and those 3 personal fouls.

Thompson tallied 20 points on 4-for-8 from beyond the arc, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.

Both #SplashBrothers committed zero turnovers apiece.

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