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A strong defensive effort in the second half allowed Team USA to shake off a rocky offensive start to its first exhibition as part of the USA Basketball Showcase.
The United States beat Puerto Rico, 117-74, Monday, Aug. 7 from the T-Mobile Arena in the first look at this year’’s team.
“We had some mistakes in the first half that allowed Puerto Rico to hang around,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “I think we had an eight or 10-point lead and we turned it over a couple of times and they cashed in. Those are great lessons because it's a 40-minute game not a 48-minute game and every possession is a little more meaningful.”
Monday’s exhibition game marked the start of a journey that will take the men’s national team to the Philippines. Group play begins Saturday, Aug. 26 with a matchup against New Zealand.
“You can’t be lulled to sleep by a game like this,” Kerr said. “It’s very similar to the NCAA Tournament, just because you blow a team out in the first game, you start right back 0-0 in the next game.”
For now, Team USA will head out to Malaga, Spain for two more exhibition games against Slovenia and Spain.
“It was a great night for us,” Kerr said. “Wrapping up training camp in Las Vegas the last four or five days. I think the guys have really picked up what we’re trying to install at both ends.”
In its first public showing as a collective, the U.S. used a 34-18 third quarter to rewrite a hot-and-cold first half performance. During that frame, the Americans stretched a seven-point halftime lead to 23 points before eventually going up 46 points in the fourth.
“That first wind always gets you,” forward Brandon Ingram said. “We knew what we had to do, we ran the basketball, made some good passes in transition and made some open shots.”
The defense rang true in the third quarter en route to forcing 18 turnovers, scoring 31 points off them.
“It’s great with the rule change,” forward Jaren Jackson Jr. said. “We can be more physical, guards can be physical up high so they can funnel everything to the bigs down low.”
Edwards hit his stride in the third quarter, scoring nine of his 15 points in the third quarter. As a team, the country went the entire first half without having a scorer reach double-figures.
Kerr opted to start Edwards in the backcourt with Jalen Brunson alongside Ingram, Jackson and Mikal Bridges.
“We started them because they played really well in the scrimmage yesterday,” Kerr said. “It may not be exactly this combination going forward we’ll see but so far it’s really looked good and the guys off the bench have looked good.”
All starters eventually reached double-figures including 12 points from Jackson Jr. including eight points in the first quarter when the rest of the starting five was struggling. Team USA outscored Puerto Rico by more than 20 points in the paint.
When the starting lineup didn’t have it going offensively, the bench manned the fort, scoring 23 of the team’s 50 first half points. Reserve guard Austin Reaves made an immediate impact upon entering the game late in the first quarter on his way to nine first half points.
The jam-packed T-Mobile Arena seated several purple and gold colored Laker jerseys who were sure to make him feel at home.
“It was special,” Reaves said. “Obviously, playing for the Lakers helps. Anytime you go anywhere and you’re appreciated, it makes you feel good. As far as basketball, it’s always good to win.”
Fellow backup guard Tyrese Haliburton posted a game-high 11 assists starting with six in his first five minutes on the floor.
“We just have a lot of talent around us,” he said. “I’m a willing passer just trying to get the ball to guys and they make shots. It makes me look a little better.”
Haliburton punctuated his night with a final assist to reserve forward Cam Johnson on an alley-oop pass in the fourth quarter, much to the delight of the bench.
“This is not an opportunity that’s going to repeat itself with the same guys at the same time,” Jackson said. “So you’ve got to embrace every opportunity. In practice we’re having a lot of fun so we just replicate it in the game.”
Johnson shared in the team-high 15 points with Edwards.
Fellow reserve forward Bobby Portis added 11 points in the fourth quarter including an acrobatic tip-in as well as a turnaround jumper. In that same quarter, Portis was part of double technicals along with Puerto Rico’s George Conditt IV. Soon after, the T-Mobile Arena broke out into “Bobby” chants.
New York Knicks guard Josh Hart is the lone member of the national team to not log minutes during the exhibition, citing rest.