Coming off of a loss in the FIBA Basketball World Cup the USA team put on a special performance against Italy, absolutely dominating them from start to finish. The final score saw Team USA win by almost 40 points, 100-63. This came against an Italian team with some elite talent like Simone Fontecchio and Nicolo Melli.
Mikal Bridges was huge for Team USA as he scored 24 points, by far the highest scoring player on the team as the second-highest scorer for the USA was Tyrese Haliburton with 18 followed by Austin Reaves with 12. Most of the starters and key players didn’t have to play big minutes in this one. Everyone on the roster was able to get some minutes in and contribute.
The big advantage for the USA was rebounding, which they outdid Italy by 51-33. That was big question after the loss and Bobby Portis was a big reason for this. Portis grabbed seven rebounds in 16 minutes.
Next up for the USA is Germany. Germany features a ton of NBA talent like Dennis Schroder, Franz Wagner, and Mortiz Wagner. They pose a big threat to the USA as they narrowly escaped out of the last round on a missed buzzer beater from NBA player Davis Bertans.
Photo Credit: Sherwin Vardeleon/AFP
