USA pushed by Turkey in first half, but no problems for hosts against Egypt…
The FIBA World Cup 2014 pool stage continued on Sunday as both Team USA and Spain continued their dominance, although the former were given a slight scare.
Despite being heavy favourites for the tournament, the Americans were pushed hard by Turkey and even trailed at half-time which left Coach Mike Krzyzewski with a headache during the break.
However, with the Turks losing their intensity as tiredness perhaps crept in, USA were able to exert themselves better on both ends and ultimately ran out comfortable winners.
While there were key contributions from the likes of Klay Thompson and Kyrie Irving, it is the frontcourt options of DeMarcus Cousins, Kenneth Faried and Anthony Davis who are producing consistently solid performances.
Meanwhile, the same could be said for hosts Spain as they overcame the challenge of Egypt with relative ease, and both teams will be looking ahead to qualifying for the next stage as soon as possible which will give them the opportunity to possibly rotate and rest players.
Serge Ibaka was key off the bench scoring 18 points and grabbing eight rebounds, but fans are yet to see the ideal line-up from the hosts for solid minutes as the Oklahoma City Thunder works his way back from injury.
Elsewhere, Goran Dragic put on another impressive display for Slovenia in their win over Mexico on Sunday, although the same could not be said for Australian guard Dante Exum.
Much is expected of the first-round Draft pick this summer, but he continues to have a quiet tournament thus far despite the Boomers winning handily against South Korea.
Argentina fell to defeat to Croatia after their impressive start to the tournament on Saturday, but perhaps the pick of the games on Sunday was Serbia’s clash with France.
With Serbia leading for the majority of the game, some questionable officiating decisions down the stretch helped the French snatch victory with a late free-throw from Joffrey Lauvergne sealing it.
Results:
Dominican Republic 76-63 New Zealand
Korea 55-Australia 89
Argentina 85-90 Croatia
Serbia 73-74 France
Finland 81-76 Ukraine
Slovenia 89-68 Mexico
Senegal 82-75 Puerto Rico
Brazil 79-50 Iran
Lithuania 75-62 Angola
Philippines 70-82 Greece
Turkey 77-98 USA
Spain 91-54 Egypt
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