The U.S. men's national basketball team had no trouble running away from China for a 106-57 win Sunday in its second Olympic tune-up. Team USA might be missing several big names for the upcoming tournament in Rio, but these recent exhibitions have shown that the United States remains the clear team to beat this summer.
The Americans dominated China from start to finish at the Staples Center on Sunday. There are only a few teams in the world that can come even close to supplying the talent to keep up with the U.S., and China is not of them. The team has a former NBA player in Yi Jianlian and two 2016 NBA draft picks in Zhou Qi and Wang Zhelin, but that's not enough when you're facing a team with Kevin Durant, DeMarcus Cousins and other All-Stars.
Klay Thompson was stellar with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting in 19 minutes. Durant played very well in the game, too, leading all scorers 19 points on 5-of-7 shooting in 18 minutes. He was a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line and added five assists. Cousins was also unstoppable with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting in 18 minutes.
Two players who couldn't find their grooves against China were Carmelo Anthony and Paul George. The two star swingmen are expected to be key contributors for the Americans in Rio, but neither shot well Sunday. Anthony filled the box score with eight rebounds and five assists, but shot 2-of-9 from the field en route to five points. George also scored just five points (on 1-of-6 shooting).
The Americans will need more from those guys in bigger games against better teams, but in this exhibition in China, it was no problem. The Chinese team shot just 32 percent from the field, committed 26 turnovers (to USA's 13) and got outrebounded, 39-26. Like Cousins, DeAndre Jordan looked comfortable in the middle with 12 points, five rebounds and three blocks in 17 minutes.
The leading scorer for China was Jianlian, who recorded 18 points on 4-of-14 shooting in 17 minutes. Zhao Jiwei added 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting.
These two teams will meet again in Rio, as USA and China are both in the same group for the preliminary round of the Olympic tournament. They're slated to play on August 6, the first day of action, as the Americans look to defend their title as the world's basketball superpower. So far, so good.
