Team USA Advances to FIBA Semifinals
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Ronald Martinez/Getty Images(BARCELONA, Spain) — James Harden scored all 14 of his points in the second half while Klay Thompson added 20 points, helping the United States pull away from Slovenia in a 119-76 win in the quarterfinals of the FIBA World Cup on Tuesday.
The game was not as easy as the final score suggests, however. Team USA only led 49-42 at the half, with Slovenia closing the gap to as close as five in the third quarter. However, the Americans would reel off a 27-10 run before scoring the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to make it a 96-64 contest.
“We just stick to the program. We know it’s tough for any team to run with us for 40 minutes because of how deep we are and how hard we work on the floor,” said Stephen Curry. “I think we understand we didn’t make many shots in the first half but our defense was pretty solid, and if we kept the pressure on them, things would open up.”
Team USA shot just 36 percent in the first half, but finished the game at 50 percent, thanks in large part to Thompson’s 20 points. The US will play Lithuania on Thursday in the semifinals.
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