USA Basketball 2014 World Cup: #SplashBrothers Rack Up Hustle Stats In Demolition Of Dominican Republic (Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account)
BILBAO EXHIBITION CENTRE, BILBAO, SPAIN — USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team (#USABMNT) scored another blowout, this time against the Dominican Republic. The win pushed #TeamUSA’s record to 4-0 and in commanding position to come out of Group C in first place there.
As usual, Kyrie Irving started at point guard, although there were indications that Derrick Rose might start. Along with Irving were starters Stephen Curry, James Harden, Anthony Davis, and Kenneth Faried.
Here’s a recap of Golden State Warriors-specific players Curry and Klay Thompson, as the #SplashBrothers filled up the boxscore in the “hustle stats” category.
FIRST QUARTER
Curry started out the game throwing a few errant passes, although only he was only penalized with one turnover. The first was down low to the baseline and Irving corraled the loose ball. The second was a bad pass up top to Harden, who couldn’t evade two closing Dominican defenders and wound up traveling. The third was a pass attempt to Thompson, who was too close for a good angle, that got stolen.
Other than that, Curry’s game was pretty on-point as he recorded 3 points on a trey out of 3 attempts from beyond the arc, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 foul to go along with that 1 turnover.
His three-pointer was from corner and, as usual, assisted by Harden — oddly enough, not Irving, who’s the point guard.
Rudy Gay was the first sub, in for Faried, as coach Mike Krzyzewski probably wanted to avoid Faried from collecting his 2nd foul early. Usually the first substitution involves Thompson, but Klay got in shortly thereafter.
A contested corner trey fed by Derrick Rose reminded us how awesome it is that Thompson needs so little time to set his feet. That’s an elite-level skill that not too many NBA players possess.
However, Klay missed his next corner trey off of a screen from block, a set play that required him to pivot on his left foot — not an easy maneuver to master. However, Cousins cleaned it up with a putback slam.
Team USA took a 25-22 lead into the 2nd quarter as Jack Martinez hit a buzzer-beating jumper. Klay looked slightly disgusted by it, as if to hint that he didn’t expect as much from the Dominican Republic team.
Curry already had 3 rebounds and a couple of assists.
SECOND QUARTER
Thompson, along with USA’s second unit, started 2nd quarter and displayed his great commitment to defense. As DeMarcus Cousins‘s cover had the ball down low and was having trouble planning his next move, Thompson’s man went to set a screen on the much bigger Cousins. Klay decided he would take the opportunity to strip the ball from Cousins’s man, and he did.
At one point, the #SplashBrothers showed some teamwork on defense, as Curry helped out Thompson on a baseline drive that led to a turnover and early offense the other way.
Curry checked in for Thompson and had his hands up waving for the ball, but like we’ve seen plenty of times with #USABMNT, Harden took it inside and got fouled instead.
But Curry got others involved, racking up 6 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists with a +12 plus-minus by halftime. Thompson had 3 points and 2 steals. USA was up, 56-41.
THIRD QUARTER
The 2nd half started with Curry having two straight nice dishes, plus a breakaway layup off a Team USA dunk, assist by Harden.
Klay then came in and committed a travel on what would have been a breakaway layup, just a little too anxious to get away from the pack.
But once again he showed defensive smarts, getting a low-key blocked shot. He also did a great job of going off of his man to help Cousins, a play which sometimes unfairly makes Thompson look unathletic.
While he had only 3 points, his plus-minus was at +18, which was second only to Gay’s +19.
As the 3rd quarter ended, Curry needed just 3 assists and one more shot to get a double-double.
FOURTH QUARTER
Thompson hit a trey near the start of the 4th, then got a throwdown on a breakaway as USA went up by 40. Klay talled a total of 3 assists and would’ve had 4, but Andre Drummond missed an alley oop dunk on the receiving end. Thompson would have two more impressive opportunities for alley oops that were converted.
USA went on to demolish the D.R., 106-71.
Klay tallied 8 points, 3 assists, and 3 steals on 2-for-5 from downtown.
Curry had 8 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and just 1 turnover.
Team USA’s next game is tomorrow at 8:30AM Pacific time against the Ukraine.
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