USA beats Brazil at the buzzer
If the USA thought the world championships were going to come easy, yesterday provided a much needed reality check for the young team.
Led by Kevin Durant’s 27 points, Team USA came away with a lucky 70-68 victory over a plucky Brazil team to remain unbeaten after three games. However, it could have been much different for the US as Leandro Barbosa’s shot at the buzzer rattled the rim.
Point guard Derrick Rose said the game was a bit of an eye opener for the team.
"We know that teams are really coming in here to try to win this tournament and we're here to do the same. This game right here was an eye opener," Rose said after the game.
Rose was one of only three players to score in double figures as the US struggled to find any sort of rhythm against the Brazilians. The Chicago Bulls guard scored 11 points to go along with five rebounds and four steals. Chauncey Billups was the only other player to reach double figures with 15, while Durant took down 10 boards to go along with his 27.
Despite losing Barbosa was upbeat about his team’s performance.
"I thought it was going to go in but it's OK. I think we did a great job, it was a great game. I don't think the USA knew that we could cause problems for them and we did it,” the Brazilian wing-man said.
It could have been much a much different story had Brazil had some of their better players available. Centre Nene pulled out with an injury whilst Anderson Varejao rested his sprained right ankle. Had the two played, Brazil would have had a considerable size advantage and could have caused more problems for the Americans.
As it stands Team USA are 3-0 and have all but won Group B and will play Iran on Wednesday. If the US have any aspirations of winning the tournament - for the first time in 16 years - they will have to improve their performance quite drastically.
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