USA crush Tunisia to sweep Group B
The United States notched their fifth straight victory in the 2010 FIBA World Championships in Turkey. The Americans banked on a fiery second half to crush Tunisia, 92-57, in their final Group B game in Istanbul.
Though expected to register an easy win, the United States had a surprisingly slow start against the winless Tunisians. Back-to-back baskets from Amine Rzig allowed the North Africans to take an early 4-0 lead. The Americans quickly recovered and the two teams exchanged leads in the first few minutes. Mike Krzyzewski's squad eventually broke loose from an 8-8 deadlock, finishing the period with an 11-5 run to take a 19-13 lead.
The Americans started the second quarter with three straight points from Eric Gordon to extend their lead to 22-13. But the Tunisians refused to go down easily and kept pace with their opponents throughout the period. The Africans came to within two points twice before the Americans recovered to take a 39-33 half-time lead.
The Tunisians reduced Team USA's lead to four points early in the third but back-to-back three-pointers from Kevin Durant and Chauncey Billups gave the Americans a 45-35 advantage. The Tunisians threatened once more, reducing their opponents' lead to only six points. But the defending Olympic champions responded with an 8-0 run to go up 53-39. Gordon and Stephen Curry extended the Americans' lead to 63-44 in the closing seconds of the quarter after hitting back-to-back treys. USA led 63-46 after three quarters.
Behind the hot shooting of Gordon, the Americans put the finishing touches in the final period. The Los Angeles Clippers guard scored eight straight points to start the fourth, giving the Americans a 71-46 cushion. Another 7-1 run gave the Americans a 78-47 advantage with 7:13 remaining. Curry and Russell Westbrook carried most of the scoring load in the closing minutes as Team USA notched another win to sweep their group.
Gordon topscored for the Americans with 21 points, including four treys. Durant and Westbrook finished with 14 points each while Curry had 13. Veteran Billups had seven points and two steals. Marouan Kechrid led Tunisia with 15 points, all on three-pointers. Macram Ben Romdhane added 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Rzig finished with nine points while Radhouane Slimane also had nine points and five rebounds.
Team USA will face Angola in the Round of 16 on Monday. Tunisia finished at the bottom of the group and have been eliminated.
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