Impressive build-up for Team USA, Latest Others News - The New Paper
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Impressive build-up for Team USA

Team USA, gunning for their third straight Olympic basketball gold medal, wrapped up their pre-Summer Games exhibition series with a dominating 110-66 win over world No. 25 Nigeria yesterday morning (Singapore time).

The Americans' build-up to the Rio de Janeiro Games included five straight exhibition wins, but just one came against opponents ranked in the top 10 in the world.

They easily beat No. 4 Argentina, No. 14 China twice and rolled over No. 22 Venezuela by 35 points.

"We played good defence and it led to some fast breaks," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

"Our team are very deep. The most versatile team we have had."

Despite the absence of NBA stars LeBron James and Stephen Curry, Krzyzewski's squad are favoured to win a third consecutive gold.

A half-dozen Americans finished in double figures yesterday morning, including Carmelo Anthony, who tallied a team-high 19 points.

Klay Thompson (17), Kevin Durant (14), DeMar DeRozan (13), DeMarcus Cousins (10) and DeAndre Jordan (10) also finished in double figures.

Kyle Lowry had 11 assists and Jordan grabbed nine rebounds in the victory at the Toyota Center arena in Houston, Texas.

"It was good way to close it out. Now the big show starts and we got to lock in," Anthony said.

The Americans play the Chinese again to open the Rio Olympics on Saturday and also meet Venezuela again. - AFP.

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