USA Basketball Dominates in FIBA Opening Game - East Idaho News
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USA Basketball Dominates in FIBA Opening Game

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3 27 12%20NBA%20Logo?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1409482785519Ronald Martinez/Getty Images(BILBAO, Spain) — The United States began defense of their FIBA Basketball World Cup title with a 114-55 blowout over tournament newcomer Finland on Saturday. The US limited the Finns to just a pair of free throws in the second quarter, holding them to 0-for-17 from the floor.

“Our coaches were encouraging us to keep up that effort by telling us every timeout, every dead ball, they only had two points or whatever,” guard Stephen Curry said. “That’s just motivation to keep doing what we’re doing.”

The dominating effort continued into the third quarter as Finland ended up going 19 consecutive shots before one finally went in. by the time Tuukka Kotta’s basket dropped with 8:48 to play in the third, the Americans had already built up a 62-20 lead.

Klay Thompson came off the bench to lead all players with 18 points while Anthony Davis poured in 17 as well. The 59 point margin of victory is just the second highest in USA Basketball history, sitting behind a 79 point win over South Korea in 1990. The Americans will next take on Turkey in group stage play, a rematch of the 2010 world basketball championship gold-medal game.


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