Anthony Edwards leads USA to 92-62 victory over Slovenia in FIBA World Cup exhibition game
Edwards scored 15 points as Steve Kerr's side capitalised on the absence of Luka Doncic to win their second Basketball World Cup preparation game in Malaga.
Basketball
The United States men's basketball team continued their FIBA World Cup 2023 preparations with a 92-62 victory over Slovenia in Malaga on Saturday (12 August).
Anthony Edwards produced 15 points, four rebounds and three steals as the USA made the most of Luka Doncic's absence to secure their second tune-up win ahead of the World Cup start on 25 August.
Jalen Brunson scored 11 and grabbed eight assists while Austin Reaves and Tyrese Haliburton also tallied 10 points apiece.
The Americans were never behind in the game, leading 27-20 after the first quarter before marching into a 47-31 half-time advantage.
And Team USA won the final period 25-13 to run out convincing winners.
With Doncic sidelined from the game after suffering an "unfavourable blow" during Slovenia's loss to Spain on Friday, the task in front of the side ranked seven in the world was always going to be a difficult one.
And Steve Kerr's men showed little mercy in the south of Spain as they set about readying themselves to bid to recapture the world title. The U.S. led in all significant metrics including a 47-33 gap in rebounds and a 13-6 advantage in steals.
The Americans' transition play was particularly inspired and moments of magic, including Brunson using the backboard to set up Edwards for a storming dunk in the second frame, hinted at the chemistry being built behind the scenes ahead of the World Cup.
“It was a good game for us in terms of feeling the environment, the atmosphere was great, the Spanish fans were awesome. It was hot in there so our guys were sweating like crazy,” Kerr said approvingly afterwards.
“We rotated a lot of players in there. It was a good night for us. We started to feel the FIBA officiating and interpretations of things, the physicality, and we got a lot of good stuff on tape too, to have going forward.”
Gregor Glas was the only scorer for Slovenia in double digits with 14 points. Former Phoenix Suns player Zoran Dragic chipped in eight points.
The game was the second of five exhibition matches designed to prepare the Americans for the World Cup co-hosted in the Philippines, Japan and Indonesia.
USA will play their third on Sunday night against reigning world champions Spain who are also ranked number one in the world.