USA vs Argentina Basketball Friendly 2016 [VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS] - Durant top Scorer, Team USA Dominates Inside in Rio Olympics Preparation Game
Team USA towered over Argentina in their first tune-up match before going to the Rio Olympics. The final score was 111-74. USA was simply too fast and too aggressive on defense for Argentina. The team also showed versatility in its offensive attack dominating in the paint and from outside.
Box Score
Leading the USA team in scoring was Kevin Durant. He scored 23 points. He also showcased the defensive side to his game with 2 blocks and a steal. Three other players scored in double figures: Carmelo Anthony had 17, DeMarcus Cousins had 14 and Paul George coming off the bench had 18 points.
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Kyrie Irving led the team in assists with 6. Cousins led in rebounds with 15. Carmelo had more steals than any of the USA team players with 3.
Team Argentina is loaded with talented NBA stars, including Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, Andres Nocioni, and Carlos Delfino.
Game Highlights
If this tune-up is any indication, then team USA will most likely dominate the Rio Olympics even if some analysts think this current basketball roster isn't the best USA can offer.
Indeed, the coaching staff had to dig deep into NBA's otherwise talented pool of players, since stars like Steph Curry and LeBron James opted to not participate in the Olympics for various reasons.
In the second quarter, new Golden State Warriors teammates Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green played together for the first time. But Green said he didn't notice. He said, "Honestly, if you want me to be quite frank with you, I didn't even notice me, Klay and KD were out there together."
Going forward, Argentina's main concern should be getting new talent into their basketball roster after both Nocioni and Ginobili retire. Ginobili is 38 years old, while Nocioni is 36, and yet they were still the best performing players for team Argentina in the tune-up game.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Team Argentina was impressed with team USA's performance. Luis Scola said that the group had the best size and talent in the world.
There was a stretch when Team USA stringed a couple of misses from downtown. Marcus Thompson, columnist for Bay Area News Group, tweeted that "Durant and Thompson are a combined 0-for-6 from 3… Warriors are doomed."
DeMarcus Cousins, with his 14-point, 15-rebound double-double, was dominant in the paint. Team USA, in general, utilized their inside presence to dominate team Argentina.
Although the tweet is a bit exaggerated, team USA can definitely work a bit more on improving their 3-point shooting performance in games. Durant picked up on the slow start from downtown, and eventually hit 4 out of 9 3-point shots.
