USABMNT 2014: #SplashBrothers Report vs Serbia (Gold Medal Game)

USABMNT 2014: #SplashBrothers Report vs Serbia (Gold Medal Game) (Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account)

BARCLAYSCARD CENTER (AKA PALACIOS DE LOS DESPORTES), MADRID, SPAIN — Golden State Warriors guards Stephen Curry were set to represent USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team (#USABMNT) again, facing Serbia for the gold medal game today.

Curry started along with Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Anthony Davis, and Kenneth Faried.

Curry managed to stay out of foul trouble and Thompson did what he usually does, but just in more limited minutes.

Here’s a blow-by-blow report of how our #SplashBrothers fared.

FIRST QUARTER

• Curry started out guarding 6’8″ off-guard Nikola Kalinic, but later switched onto Serbian star point guard Milos Teodosic.
• Kyrie, Harden, and DeMarcus Cousins led a 17-0 run by #TeamUSA. USA took a 20-15 lead.
• With a little over 3:00 minutes remaining, Thompson and Davis checked in and Curry out.
• It was nice to hear Klay yell out, “Back pick!”, warning Rudy Gay. Of course, the pro-Serbian arena was very quiet at the time, with their team getting hammered.
• Thompson hit a three-pointer with a hand in his face on a catch-and-shoot delivered by Harden, which put USA up, 30-19, with 1:35 to go in the quarter.

Team USA would take a 35-21 lead into the second frame. Curry didn’t do much because Irving and Harden were cooking, so the two play initiators did not necessarily look to pass to him.

Curry racked up a “Club Trillion” statline with 6:30 minutes played and no other stats, either shooting-wise or hustle-wise.

Thompson had 3 points scored in 3:30 minutes played.

SECOND QUARTER

• Thompson got things cooking early with a three-pointer with 9:32 to go in the 10-minute second quarter.
• At the 7:30 mark, Curry checked back in for the first #SplashBrothers appearance. USA was up, 42-26, at the time.
• Thompson stole the ball on a broken play, threw it downcourt to Derrick Rose who touch-passed it to Faried for an emphatic dunk.
• After Curry missed a three and subbed out for Klay, Thompson missed one his new pet moves: pivoting on the three-point catch-and-shoot. However, Gay got the putback slam that further demoralized Serbia.
• With 4:37 to go and the score 50-29, Curry subbed back in for Thompson. At the 2:09 mark, Steph pushed the ball up the court quick, seemingly with the mindset that he wasn’t going to pass, making a three-pointer in transition.
• Curry ended the quarter with something we’ve seen him do once before: dribble between his legs with the same hand. This time, he did it with his left. He got stopped in the paint and did an up-fake with the ball in his right-hand, but was called for the travel. However, it was a bit of rare razzle-dazzle that usually can get #HumanTorch mode lit.

Team USA took an insurmountable 67-41 lead into halftime. Curry had 5 points on 1-for-2 downtown, 1 rebound, and 1 turnover. Thompson had 6 points on 2-for-3 from downtown and no other stats.

THIRD QUARTER

• Curry hit two technical foul shots due to Harden getting hit hard, after Cousins had a small altercation on his and-one.
• Curry locked up Teodosic on defense. Then Thompson checked in at 5:14 with the score 83-54 and guarded Teodosic as well.
• Irving was still feeling it, scoring 8 more points in the quarter to rack up 26 by the end of three. He straight ignored Klay in the corner on one score, but Irving was definitely feeling it. Perhaps his selfishness will complement the unselfishness of LeBron James for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
• For the second time this game, Thompson missed a wide-open three-pointer that Gay slammed home.
• Thompson got another lob to Davis, but the pass was actually to short for Davis to dunk. However, Davis’s long arms got him the converted layup for an assist for Thompson.
• Thompson got another blocked shot with the score 104-65.

USA led 105-67 heading into the 4th. Curry had 7 points, 1 rebound, 1 turnover. Thompson had 6 points, 1 assist, and 2 blocked shots.

FOURTH QUARTER

• Thompson had an airball trey to start the quarter, but then atoned for the miss with a nice left-handed dribble penetration pull-up at fifteen feet.
• Thompson later showed off his left hand dribble penetration again and got an assist to DeMar DeRozan in the opposite corner for a jumper.
• Klay followed that up with fadeaway at 6:04 remaining in the game, pushing the USA lead to 117-77. A reporter sitting behind me said at that moment, “Klay is unbelievable.”
• With 5:42 to go, coach Mike Krzyzewski did some mass substitutions and brought in Curry for Thompson. However, with 2:18 to go, Thompson came back in.
• Curry made a three with 1:26 to go, then missed one that Andre Drummond tapped in. That would be the extent of Steph and Klay’s highlights for the night.

The #SplashBrothers would end the game together on the court as gold medal winners, as the buzzer sounded with the final score 129-92.

Curry finished with 10 points on 2-for-7 from downtown, 4-for-4 from the line, 1 rebound, 0 assists, 0 steals, 0 blocked shots, and 1 turnover.

Thompson tallied 12 points, 2-for-5 on treys, 0 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 steals, 2 blocked shots, and 1 turnover.

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