USA's Kevin Durant drives against Andres Nocioni in an exhibition game in Las Vegas. (Photo : Getty Images / Andrew D. Bernstein)
The United States basketball team set to defend its Olympic gold medal officially started its quest with a 111-74 win against Argentina, during its first exhibition game in preparation for Rio 2016. Kevin Durant led all scorers with 23 points, 12 of them coming in the first half.
Team USA, whose last loss came 10 years ago in the FIBA World Championship, got off to a hot start and pulled away early, finishing halftime with a 56-33 lead. All players on the roster got significant on-court minutes, with Draymond Green's 12 being the least. Even the Argentine national team, led by NBA veterans Luis Scola and Manu Ginobili, were astounded at the performance, especially since it was the first real game for this particular US squad.
In a report from the Associated Press, the longtime national team member Scola said of the US, "They have the best talent in the world." The US was also dominant in its size, finishing the game with a 53-30 rebounding advantage, with DeMarcus Cousins grabbing 15 boards despite playing only 16 minutes.
Kevin Durant got to play in a real game for the first time as a Golden State Warriors member with fellow NBA teammates Green and Klay Thompson. Durant, who along with Carmelo Anthony are the only holdovers from the 2012 Olympic gold medal team, said that team chemistry was not an issue.
Durant said, "When you want to win, chemistry's not a problem," according to NBA.com. Durant gave credit to his teammates when he said that everybody was "all-in" starting on the first day of practice. Anthony agreed, saying that the on-court communication is already present and not a problem.
The game was not a perfect one for the US, despite the large margin of victory. Overall, Team USA shot just 45 percent from the field and connected on only 14 out of 41 three point attempts, only 34 percent. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski also said his team lacked conditioning.
Team USA's next exhibition games are both against China, with the first one on Sunday in Los Angeles and then two nights later in Oakland.
