USA Basketball Coasts To Victory Over New Zealand

Coming off a slight scare against Turkey (about as big a scare as you can imagine a 21-point victory would be), Team USA got off to a fast start in its third game of group play Tuesday at the 2014 FIBA World Cup and mostly coasted to a 98-71 victory over New Zealand.

After a lackluster first half effort against the Turks on Sunday, coach Mike Krzyzewski’s squad came out focused against the Kiwis, building a 22-point halftime lead that allowed them to pretty much cruise the rest of the way. Anthony Davis led the Americans with 21 points, nine rebounds, two steals and one block while Kenneth Faried followed up with 15 points, 11 rebounds, one steal and one block.

It’s ironic that Team USA’s biggest concern coming into the tournament was the frontcourt but so far, Davis and Faried have looked like the Americans’ two best players. However, USA Basketball’s guards also regrouped from underwhelming performances against Turkey to help blow New Zealand out early, even if the Kiwis’ Haka dance temporarily confused them:

James Harden led the guards with 13 points, four assists and two steals, while Stephen Curry finally had a good outing with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting to go with five rebounds and three assists. Klay Thompson had 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting off the bench and Kyrie Irving added 10 points, four rebounds and four steals. The Kiwis were led by 11 points from B.J. Anthony.

Derrick Rose once again struggled from the floor, going 1-for-6 from the field, but he didn’t look physically worn down despite playing his third game in four days, which is really all that Chicago Bulls supporters and NBA fans in general care about at this point. He was also pesky on the defensive end and looked quick on his feet. Rose finished with three points, two assists, one rebound, one steal and one block in 17 minutes.

Team USA’s three-point shooting has been an issue through three games at the FIBA World Cup, but the Americans were a little bit better against the Kiwis, going 6-for-16 from downtown (38 percent). They shot 51 percent from the floor and assisted on 21 of their 35 field goals, which isn’t surprising considering how many of them ended in an Anthony Davis or Kenneth Faried alley-oop:

Another area of concern against Turkey was how often the United States got to the free throw line. That wasn’t an issue against New Zealand as Team USA got to the line 34 times, but the Americans need to sharpen up their touch from the stripe after converting on only 22 of those attempts (65 percent).

Though a last-second putback by the Kiwis cut Team USA’s lead to just seven at the end of the first quarter, the Americans used a 30-point second quarter to outscore New Zealand by 15 in the period and build a 57-35 advantage at the half. The focus wavered a little bit in the third quarter as the “Tall Blacks” actually outscored Team USA by one, but a 7-0 run in the fourth quarter extended the Americans’ lead to 84-57 and the game was never really in question after the first half.

Everyone scored for Team USA, the Americans out-rebounded the Kiwis by 15 and though turnovers are still an issue (16 in this one), Coach K’s squad continued to impress on the defensive end, forcing turnovers, playing the passing lanes and racking up 14 steals.

Team USA now joins Spain and Greece as the only 3-0 teams in the tournament thus far, though Slovenia has a chance to join that category with a win over Korea Wednesday. In the Group C standings, Ukraine trails the United States after going 2-1 so far in group play. USA Basketball’s next challenge comes against the 26th-ranked Dominican Republic on Wednesday.