At the Olympic preparation tournament in Las Vegas, the American men, top favorites for the gold in Tokyo, had surprisingly lost their first two games. But against Argentina, which also lost twice, it suddenly turned.
Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal both scored 17 points in a convincing 108-80 win over the Americans. Zach LaVine, Damian Lillard and Bam Adebayo also finished in double figures.
National coach Gregg Popovich was therefore somewhat reassured after his team’s performance. “We coped well with the fatigue. We played well against Australia for one half and then fell away. Now we have more or less extended that to the end. Hopefully that is an indication that we are getting better,” said Popovich.
Argentina’s 41-year-old veteran Luis Scola was the top scorer with 41 points. Team USA will practice again this week against Australia. After another friendly match against Spain, the Americans travel to Japan.
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