Team USA’s Hot Shooting Gave Australia Problems In A 102-86 Win

After weeks of healthy speculation surrounding Team USA, they came through with another statement win Thursday at the Marvel Stadium in Australia, blowing the Boomers out 102-86 behind 23 points from Kemba Walker. They’re now 2-0 in their FIBA Basketball World cup exhibition games with a win over Spain as well, and look to be out to prove that much talked about scrimmage loss was, indeed, not a big deal.

Team USA were unable to separate themselves from Australia in the first frame and the Boomers actually led early on in the second quarter. but then the Americans went on a 13-0 run led by Myles Turner, who hit three straight 3-pointers during that run. He ended the night with 15 points, 14 rebounds, and a team high box plus-minus of +26.

Kyle Kuzma also caught fire from behind the arc, making four of his five 3-point attempts for a total of 12 points on the night. Last season, Kuzma made just 30.3 percent of his 3-point attempts—including a lowly 31.9 precent of his wide-open 3-point attempts—so the hope is that he’ll bring his hot hand to China with him next month.

Last but not least, Team USA got some good production out of two of their most athletic guards, Jaylen Brown and Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell and Brown combined for 24 points on 11-24 shooting from the field, with Mitchell accounting for 15 of those shot attempts. As a unit, the Americans went 13-for-30 (43%) from beyond the arc, but when they did miss, they were monsters on the glass bringing down 16 offensive rebounds to go along with 38 defensive boards, out rebounding the Boomers 54-36 on the night.

With roster cuts less than a week away, the guards on the roster have made strong cases for themselves and the bigs are trying to separate themselves by showing off their offensive versatility. We’ll see who else stands out from the rest when Team USA takes on Australia for another exhibition game on Saturday.