Team USA rejoiced on Wednesday, Sep 5, at the Mall of Asia Arena when they won by a large margin against Team Italy with a 100-63 victory. This sweet redemption came after their shocking loss to Lithuania last Sunday.
A brief recap of the USA’s loss to Lithuania
Last week took the world by surprise, as fans did not expect the American players to fall prey to the Lithuanians’ strong strategic start, making their first nine shots from three-point range and building a 21 point lead in the second quarter. Despite the effort to close the gap in the third quarter (28-17) and fourth quarter (39-39) of the game, Team USA could simply not catch up and ultimately suffered their first defeat in 10 games this summer.
Results:
|
Team |
1Q |
2Q |
3Q |
4Q |
Total |
|
USA |
12 |
25 |
28 |
39 |
104 |
|
Lithuania |
31 |
23 |
17 |
39 |
110 |
“They just punched us in the mouth. Right away, they made every shot. They executed. I don’t think it was a case of us not being ready. I think it was a case of them playing a perfect first quarter and us understanding how hard we’re going to have to play.”, Coach Kerr (USA) said.
Kerr also said that although they had secured their quarterfinal and 2024 Paris Olympic spots before the match, he still hated losing.
“I hate losing,” Kerr said. “I probably won’t sleep much tonight, but for us to get better, we needed to feel this. We needed to respond the way we did. Next game, we have to start the way we did the second half. We can’t ease into the game at all.” Coach Kerr (USA) said.
Team USA: 100-63 victory over Italy
With a renewed sense of competitiveness and a refusal to succumb to their previous defeat, Team USA took Coach Kerr’s advice to heart and did not ease into the game at all.
Early on in the game, the USA made sure that the world knew that they were back with fire and determination. In the first quarter, they led the game by a 10-point margin, 24-14. Not giving Italy a chance to recover, this advantage continued into the second and third quarters, where, by the end, they were up by 39 points against Italy. Losing by only two points in the fourth and final quarter, the USA triumphed over Italy with a 100-63 victory, proudly securing a spot in the final four and competing in the semifinals against Germany.
Mikal Bridges, Tyrese Haliburton, and Bobby Portis Jr. were hailed as game leaders in the match. Bridges recorded a total of 24 points and one block for his team. Haliburton, on the other hand, had a total of 3 assists and 3 steals. And finally, for the rebound department, in which the Team USA also dominated with 51-33, Portis registered a total of 7 rebounds for the team.
This marks the U.S.’s best start to a game since the commencement of the World Cup, and it was evident that the Americans had learned their lessons from their previous loss, as Brunson and Bridges asserted that it was essential for the team to “set the tone” at the beginning of the match.
“Our main focus was our energy and how we start the game, and how we set the tone. We did that throughout the course of the game and I’m proud of how we’ve responded and we got to be ready for the next game,” Brunson said.
Results:
|
Team |
1Q |
2Q |
3Q |
4Q |
Total |
|
USA |
24 |
22 |
37 |
17 |
100 |
|
Italy |
14 |
10 |
20 |
19 |
63 |
Coach Kerr, who was pleased at USA’s redemption in the MOA arena, said that joy and competitiveness go hand in hand.
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The photo above is from a YouTube screen grab