Team USA is off to a good start in its build-up to the Olympics. Steve Kerr's players beat Canada (86-72) in a controlled game against one of the medal contenders in Paris. It's hard to draw any real lessons from a first warm-up game, but the United States showed a great ability to stifle its opponent on defense, limiting the Canadians to 33 points at halftime.
With a starting five Stephen Curry – Jrue Holiday – Devin Booker – LeBron James – Joel EmbiidTeam USA experimented. It is not certain, however, that this five will remain as a preferred option for Kerr, as the first quarter was sluggish, with eight lost balls and an initial 11-1 for Canada. The lack of fluidity and automatism in the slower half-court game in FIBA was well compensated by a lot of pressure both on the opposing ball carrier and to contest the shots (33.8% shooting for Canada). Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray And Dillon Brooks thus finished with a weak 8/26 in cumulative shooting, for only three assists.
Embiid loses, Davis dominates
As expected, LeBron James And Stephen Curry played the road captains, with the highlight being an alley-oop from the Warriors point guard to the Lakers star. The two buddies, delighted to play together, were able to take advantage of the bench's contribution to see Team USA come back into the game and gradually pull away.
If Joel Embiid completely missed the mark with five fouls, including an unnecessary unsportsmanlike one on Dwight Powelland four stray bullets in 12 minutes, Anthony Davis was fortunately having a great night. The Laker reminded us how he was a virtually perfect interior for the FIBA game (10 points, 11 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 4 blocks in 19 minutes) through his mobility and game intelligence.
Edwards is already showing up
Another player to have scored points and minds, Anthony Edwards lived up to his statements from the start of training camp by taking his offensive responsibilities. The Wolves guard finished as the top scorer for his team with 13 points at 6/10, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer in the 3rd quarter to help the United States get some breathing room. Canada took advantage of this to rotate, with the starters remaining on the bench for the last quarter of an hour of play.
Without trembling, Team USA ended up breaking away with its eleven interceptions and nine blocks, and a domination in rebounding (53 against 48), one of the main areas of work discussed in recent days in Las Vegas. Next match against another outsider in Paris, Australia on July 15, with the arrival in the group of Derrick White in place of Kawhi Leonard, injured.
