TEAM USA pocketed its first victory of the FIBA Basketball World Cup as the defending champion beat the Czech Republic 88-67 in Group E in Shanghai on Sunday night. Donovan Mitchell scored 16 points, Harrison Barnes added 14 and the U.S. team opened its quest for a third consecutive World Cup gold medal. Kemba Walker scored 13 points and Jayson Tatum finished with 10 for the Americans, who pulled away steadily throughout. Myles Turner had seven rebounds and a pair of blocked shots for the U.S. Tomas Satoransky, the former Washington forward who was traded to Chicago over the summer, led the Czechs with 17 points. While the Americans’ 78-game winning streak in international games with NBA players ended last month with a loss at Australia, their long winning streak in major tournaments continued. The Czechs scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to get within 66-52, but the Americans weren’t threatened. Walker made a 3-pointer to stop the mini-run, found Mitchell in the corner for another 3-pointer that made it 72-52 about a minute later and the outcome was academic from there. This was the first World Cup game for the Czechs since 1982. “I have to say our opponent executed better than us in offense. They lost the game, but they should feel good about their effort and execution,” said U.S. coach Gregg Popovich. “It’s always disappointing when you lose a game but I think this was against the best team in the world. Our game plan went well. Overall though, I am very satisfied with our game defensively and offensively. I hope it will give us confidence as we continue,” said Czech Republic coach Ronen Ginzburg. Team USA will compete against Turkey tonight. (SD-Xinhua) |