USA romps past China in Rio Olympics warm-up

Agence France-Presse

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

USA romps past China in Rio Olympics warm-up
The game at Staples Center is a preview of the teams' scheduled August 6 clash in Rio de Janeiro

LOS ANGELES, USA – The USA, warming up for a run at their third straight Olympic men’s basketball gold, romped to a 106-57 friendly victory over China on Sunday, July 24 (Monday, July 25 in Manila).

The game at Staples Center, home of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers, was a preview of the teams’ scheduled August 6 clash in Rio de Janeiro, in the first-round opener for each.

Kevin Durant, the erstwhile Oklahoma City Thunder star who rocked the NBA with his recent decision to depart for rivals Golden State via free agency, came off the bench to lead the USA with 19 points.

Warriors sharp-shooter Klay Thompson contributed 17, also off the bench.

Yi Jianlian, now plying his trade in the Chinese Basketball Association after playing for four teams in five NBA seasons, led China with 18 points and seven rebounds.

Yi earned most valuable player honors in the Asia Championship last October, leading China to a victory over the Philippines in the final that secured their Olympic berth.

Guo Ailun, another key piece of that unbeaten Asia Championship team, scored five points and pulled down five rebounds.

Zhou Qi, the towering 2.17m (7ft 1in) 20-year-old drafted in June by the Houston Rockets, was limited to two points in just under 19 minutes off the bench.

But Sunday’s result showed how much work China have left to do – and how heavily favored the United States must be to capture another Olympic crown.

The United States seized control from the opening tip and led 55-29 at halftime.

China connected on just 30.9 percent of their shots, and 26 Chinese turnovers led to 36 US points.

DeMar DeRozan scored 13 points for the US and DeMarcus Cousins added 12 points and seven rebounds.

The Clippers’ DeAndre Jordan chipped in a dozen points and blocked 3 shots – including a block on China’s first possession.

The game was the second of 5 exhibitions scheduled over 11 days prior to Team USA’s departure for Rio.

They cruised past Argentina 111-74 on Friday and will take on China again on Tuesday in Okaland, California, before playing Venezuela in Chicago and Nigeria in Houston.

Venezuela is also in the first-round group with the USA, China, Australia, France and Serbia. – Rappler.com

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!