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Faced with a little adversity coming off a nail-biting win, the USA Basketball Men's World Cup Team showed enough mettle to overwhelm Japan on Thursday at the FIBA World Cup.

Behind Jaylen Brown's 20 points, the U.S. overcame injuries to two key players to drub Japan 98-45 at Shanghai....

Having back-to-back games with diverse emotions — one on the edge of your seat and the next one where you can work on perfecting your scheme — didn’t mean the Americans couldn’t take positives away from the experience.

The USA’s 45 points allowed was the best defensive effort of all 32 teams in the first round of the World Cup, while the 53-point margin of victory was the third-highest.

The U.S. scored the first 13 points of the game and never looked back, extending the margin to 56-23 at halftime. All 10 players who dressed for the U.S. scored in the first half.

Joe Harris (Brooklyn Nets)
Any significance for you starting a game for USA Basketball in the World Cup?
Yeah, individually I have a ton of pride being in this situation, but at the end of the day whether you’re starting, coming off the bench, playing 20 minutes, playing zero minutes – it’s all about sacrificing for one another. It’s not the NBA where you’re concerned with your stats or this or that. It’s about upholding the gold standard for USA Basketball and doing what you can to do that.

Khris Middleton (Milwaukee Bucks)
Did you guys need a night like this?
Yes. We definitely did. It gets a little easier when you come out and play the right way and doing that for a full 40 minutes....

What did you guys take out of this win?
Just come out and play full force from start to finish. The starting group did a great job setting the tone and everybody else just followed.

Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz)
How much did you need a night like this one?
I think for us, just continuing to build, obviously having a game the way we had against Turkey, I think it's great that we had it this early. I think, for us, just continuing to find ways to grow. We don’t have games like that, we don't have games like this one without understanding you can learn so much from this. We learned a lot about how we bounced back, our aggressiveness on defense, how we execute when we move the ball well, what type of shots, what types of looks we get.

It's an overmatched opponent, sure, but is this the best you have played defensively?
I would think so. I think from the jump, from the full 40 minutes. You know, we've had games where we played 30 minutes of great defense, or 35, and kind of let up a little bit. I think for the whole game we really set a tone, locked in and communicated, and it was really impressive.

GimmeDat wrote:Patty Mills.

In its first game of second-round action, the U.S. (4-0) defense starred in a 69-53 win against Greece (2-2) in the 2019 FIBA World Cup on Saturday night at Shenzhen Bay Sports Center in Shenzhen, China.

The USA held Greece to 31.8 percent shooting from the field (21-66 FGs) and 2019 NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee Bucks) to just 15 points....

Kemba Walker (Boston Celtics) had 15 points and six assists; Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz), playing on his birthday, finished with 10 points, five rebounds and three assists; and Harrison Barnes (Sacramento Kings) and Derrick White (San Antonio Spurs) each finished with nine points.

The USA outrebounded Greece 50-40, and Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics) was the USA’s leading rebounder with nine boards to go with his eight points, while Myles Turner (Indiana Pacers) recorded eight points and seven boards.

The first quarter saw three tied scores and three lead changes. The USA led 19-13 with 46.2 seconds left in the period, but Greece scored twice to end the quarter trailing 19-17 at the first break.

The USA gained some distance in the second quarter, in part by limiting Greece to 3-of-18 from the field (.167) and Giannis Antetokounmpo to just two points in the period.

Offensively, the USA in the second quarter took advantage of Greece entering the foul bonus early in the period and shot 8-of-9 from the free throw line. Turner helped the USA with six points in the second quarter, and the USA outscored Greece 19-8 in the period to lead 38-25 at halftime.

Greece scored the first five points of the third quarter to make it 38-30 at 8:17, but the USA responded and, helped by White scoring the USA’s final seven points, outscored Greece 16-7 from that point on to lead 54-37 with one quarter remaining.

Greece twice cut the gap to 11 points in the fourth quarter and outscored the USA 16-15 in the period, but it was not enough to overcome the USA’s advantage, which at the end of the game was 16 points, 69-53.

Harrison Barnes (Sacramento Kings)
What was your read on what happened on that play at the end of the game with Thanasis?
I mean, the game was over, so probably a frustration play, or something of that nature. I thought tonight we did a good job of executing, and we’ll keep moving....

Does it shock you how well this team has figured out what to do on the defensive end?
That’s got to be our calling card. I think when you look at past USA teams, scoring has not been an issue. There’s been a lot of talent. For us, we know that defense is how we’re going to stay in games and how we are going to be able to win and compete. I think we’ve done a good job of focusing in on that. That’s what’s really carrying us right now....

Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics)
What did the team do to neutralize Giannis Antetokounmpo?
Nothing special, just be in help, build a wall, make it tough for him – not any crazy science. It’s not rocket science. Just be in help defense, build a wall, make it hard for him.

A lot of guys defended Giannis Antetokounmpo. What that by design or coincidence?
That was by design. Pop (Popovich) wanted to throw a bunch of different looks at him, keep him thinking. And he started off the game really well, but as the course of the game rolls, he dwindled a little bit....

What about the team’s defense?
That’s where we got to hang our hat. We are young. We are athletic. We got a lot of bodies, a lot of talent. We are built for the duration of this tournament. So, as teams start to slow down, we are looking to speed up.

Donovan Mitchell (Utah Jazz)
What’s it like to be undefeated on your birthday?
Not too bad. First time ever playing on my birthday. It’s awesome. To be able to get a win like this from all around play. We came in ready. We put a lot of pressure on them. Obviously, there were times when we made a few mistakes, but we bounced right back and got stops. We didn’t shoot it too great, but that’s where the defense that Pop has been talking about takes care of it. We got to be able to stay locked in and continue doing this throughout the rest of the tournament, not get too happy with just this one win....

Marcus Smart (Boston Celtics)
Do you feel a different sense of pride when wearing the USA on your chest?
By far. We put this team together about five weeks ago. We all came to love one another. You couldn’t tell if we just met each other … some guys didn’t know each other. But, when you put the USA on your shirt, it’s a whole different feeling. You’re playing for something way much bigger. It’s a whole different pride type of deal when you go and get somebody’s back, and you can see it when everybody comes together.

How much does the camaraderie of Boston help your team here?
A lot. Tremendously. It’s ridiculous the camaraderie we have now. And, getting ready to go back to Boston is going to continue to escalate it for us and be successful for us. I think it’s going to help us a lot.

Derrick White (San Antonio Spurs)
Did you see the difference in FIBA vs. the NBA?
I mean there is a big difference between the NBA and FIBA. So, each game we’re going out there learning the rules, learning what happens. Each game is a learning opportunity for us, and we’re learning more and more about it.

How do you feel your team is playing against zones?
We got things to work on, but our ball movement and player movement was a lot better today than in the past.

United States have now reached their 18th Olympics in 19 editions - missing only the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.