Team USA beats Spain in the final exhibition game before Tokyo.
The USA Men’s Basketball team’s second-half surge was able to lift them past Spain in the final exhibition game in Las Vegas, turning things around from a two-point first-half deficit, beating Spain 83–76. With tonight’s exhibition win over Spain, Team USA finished 2–2 in the five exhibition games (game versus Australia was canceled), as the Men’s National Team is now set to face France on July 25th for the first game of the Tokyo Olympics.
Portland Trail Blazers superstar Damian Lillard led the way tonight for Team USA, finishing first in scoring with 19 points on 6 of 14 (42.9%) shooting from the field and 4 of 11 (36.4%) shooting from three. Lillard was also able to dish out 6 assists, a couple of blocks, and a game-high 4 steals in the victory.
Chicago Bulls NBA all-star Zach LaVine was able to finish in double figures, scoring 13 points for Team USA in his first stint playing for the national team. LaVine finished with a couple of emphatic dunks in the 4th quarter of tonight’s win, giving Team USA a huge momentum spark to roll past Spain.
Two-time Olympic gold medalist and Team USA captain Kevin Durant finished third in scoring tonight for the men’s national team, scoring 14 points on 38% shooting from the field going 5 for 13. Despite Durant’s struggles from three tonight, shooting 25% from deep, Durant finished with a game-high plus/minus of +16.
Coming into tonight’s exhibition, team USA welcomed new additions to the roster after losing perennial all-stars Bradley Beal (Covid-19) and Kevin Love (Calf Injury) from the Olympic roster. The Men’s National team added one of the NBA’s best big men shot-blockers JaVale McGee and Keldon Johnson, who is currently on the Spurs roster under Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich. Popovich knew exactly what Keldon Johnson was going to bring to the Team USA roster. With Johnson finishing 2nd in scoring tonight with 15 points on 7 of 9 (77.7%) shooting from the field.
The Men’s National Team is set to add some of the NBA’s top players Devin Booker, Khris Middleton, and Jrue Holiday to the USA roster just in time for Tokyo, as those players are currently on both roster teams that are in the NBA Finals. Tonight’s final exhibition game was a huge momentum builder for Team USA moving forward to Tokyo, as they try to defend their Gold medals and repeat as gold medalists for the 4th time in a row.