ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Two nights after walloping the Chinese National Team, USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team faced them again, this time at #Roaracle.
Like he did in Los Angeles, head coach Mike Kryzyzewski started five players predominantly from local NBA teams the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings: Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green, and DeMarcus Cousins, to go along with Kyrie Irving.
1st Quarter – Helluva Welcoming Party
Durant got his welcoming started off with a splash, swishing a catch on the left wing from Irving just seconds after Cousins won the tip:
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KD's first basket at @OracleArena as a member of the Warriors ? #DubNation pic.twitter.com/sVJUrIV0nu
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) July 27, 2016
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China missed their first attempt, and Irving threw a touchdown pass to Durant for a slam dunk.
After Green turned the ball over from the post, followed by empty possessions, Durant used his long arm to tap away an inbound from the near-halfcourt side by China, and dunked the ball again, uncontested:
@KDTrey5 with the early slam ? #USABMNT pic.twitter.com/faaKI8hEy5
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) July 27, 2016
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Thompson almost added to the fireworks, but missed from the left wing, but eventually Durant was fouled on a nice move to shake his defender from beyond the arc. After the free throws, USA led 10-6, with all their points scored by “KD”.
After an Irving defensive rebound turned into an outlet to Klay, who leapt and left an alley-oop for Cousins, Durant gave a nice step back move on the left baseline, but the ball toilet-bowled out and the crowd gave a big sigh.
Thompson missed again from the left arc, but Draymond managed to tip the board over to Durant on the right wing, who also missed, to the “Awwwws” of the Oracle crowd.
With 4:52 remaining and Team USA up, 14-8, “Coach K” called a timeout and subbed out everyone except Klay.
It was nice gesture in that, upon taking Thompson out shortly thereafter, he got a nice hand from the crowd.
In came Kyle Lowry, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, DeAndre Jordan and, eventually, Jimmy Butler, and this next squad opened a gap to 25-11 with 1:07 to play.
Green checked back in with 4.2 seconds to go with Anthony at the line, extending their lead to 31-15, got crossed over on the full court press after the inbound, but the running three-pointer was way off and Team USA held that 16-point cushion after one period of play.
2nd Quarter – MVP Appears
Harrison Barnes got the start in the second quarter, to a nice ovation from the crowd. A few minutes later, Durant checked back in, also to cheers. Then Thompson subbed in, and more cheers ensued.
A “Warriors!” chant broke out randomly, and Barnes took a feed from KD for a slam dunk, ironically cutting short the chant.
After that, Stephen Curry arrived to chants of “MVP!” and sat down in between Andre Iguodala and assistant general manager Kirk Lacob.
Team USA had a sequence reminiscent of the Warriors, as George found Klay, who drove and lost the ball, only to recover in the corner to throw a save lob back out to Cousins on the wing. Cousins dumped it off the Durant, open on the left wing, and KD swung the ball to George for a three in the right corner.
George later added another triple, and USA had a 49-24 lead with 56 seconds left.
With 23 seconds remaining, Durant drilled a trey from the right arc.
Thompson had a chance to cash in at the buzzer on a steal and a break, but Cousins’ behind-the-back pass in transition caromed off his own foot and, although the ball found its way to Klay open on the left wing, there wasn’t time left. Thompson threw the ball back into Cousins at the buzzer anyways.
Team USA took a 52-24 lead into halftime as Durant led all scorers with 13 points. Cousins added 10 points and 5 rebounds.
During halftime, Durant came by to say hello to Curry and Iguodala (and general manager Bob Myers):
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3rd Quarter – Just A ‘Melo Quarter
Coach K started Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Barnes, Anthony, and Jordan in the second half.
Barnes buried a triple with 6:29 remaining to give USA a 69-31 lead, then Anthony scored 16 points in a span of eight minutes to raise his point total to a game-high 20, and finally checked out with 2:32 to play, to cheers as Durant came in for him.
Thompson had come back earlier and missed a fade-away triple on a broken play, and with the quarter winding down and the ball in KD’s hands, the crowd was anxious for Durant to shoot a buzzer-beater, but he fed Cousins on a slip and DeMarcus got fouled at the rim with 2 seconds to go.
After hitting one of two, Team USA took an 84-39 lead into the final frame.
4th Quarter – KD And Klay Draw Oohs, Steph Shoots After The Buzzer
Both Thompson and Durant provided some near-miss theatrics to start the fourth. KD went behind-the-back with a crossover near the shotclock buzzer, drawing “ooohs” from the crowd, but missed.
However, Cousins got the rebound and fed Klay from the left wing, but he also missed.
With 8:15 left, Green came back in to join Thompson and Durant, and #Roaracle chanted, “Warrrrriors!” in response.
Later, KD got a steal and fed Klay for a finger roll layup on the break, and-one…
@KlayThompson with the finish through the foul! ?? pic.twitter.com/BNTMHDNtJT
— GoldenStateWarriors (@warriors) July 27, 2016
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…and Thompson’s free throw gave USA a 91-43 lead with 7:59 remaining. Lowry came in for Klay after his made free throw.
Durant dazzled Oracle once more as his executed a massive crossover dribble to find Lowry open in the left corner, even celebrating the three before the launch…
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…but Lowry missed the triple, and with 5:45 to play, Barnes came back in for KD.
But Thompson returned at the 5:21, then lofted a nice alley-oop to Cousins, but was fouled on the pass and took a trip to the line, where he split the pair of free throws.
Draymond added a field goal and Klay a trey, before this near-epic 360-degree dunk attempt by DeRozan:
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Klay added a deep pull in transition, causing WarriorsGround to go crazy, and giving Team USA a 104-55 lead…
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…although Coach K wasn’t thrilled about showing up the hapless competition.
The game finally ended with the score 107-57. Cousins led all scorers with 21 points, while Anthony’s third quarter burst helped him tally 20 points, 4-for-8 from beyond the arc.
Thompson and Durant had 15 and 13, respectively, while Klay went 4-for-12 from downtown. USA got 25 assists on their 36 field goals made.
After the game, Curry shot a few threes with Iguodala’s son, Andre, Jr., to the delight of the crowd that stayed after:
#stephencurry #andreigupdala after game shooting baskets for the fans. Pandomonium! #usabasketball #nba pic.twitter.com/RDo4a5TjOY
— Sports In The Bay (@SportsInTheBay_) July 27, 2016
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