Team USA barely avoids huge upset,win 70-68
The Americans pulled out a tough nail biter that had a superb finish, boosting their record to 3-0 in the FIBA World Basketball Championship. Durant led all scorers with 27 and Chauncey Billups had 15 points including a huge running bank shot to put the U.S. up by four with under a minute left. Brazil scored quickly to cut the lead to two and after a Billups shot missed, they got rebound and guard Marco Huertas was fouled on his way to the basket. He missed the first free throw and purposely missed the second. Huertas got his own rebound and passed to Barbosa who missed a difficult shot as time expired. The Brazilians hung tight for most of the game and were actually leading for what seemed to be all of the first half. Why were the Brazilians able to keep the game so close? Well they can shoot the 3 ball really well and they were causing turnovers. Plus they have NBA players on the squad, Leandro Barbosa, Anderson Varejao (DNP). One thing I felt hurt Team USA was the inability to properly execute the fast break and use their athleticism. There was not a lot of high flying dunks or fancy passes in this one. Up next for the Stars and Stripes: Iran at 12:00 est on Wednesday September 1st.
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