| Durant Shines in Tight Game Against Brazil |
By Isiah Mungai
August 30, 2010
The United States barely hung on for a 70-68 win against Brazil to move their record
to 3-0 in group B. After Brazil guard Marcelo Tieppo Huertas missed 2 free throws with
3.5 seconds left he chased down the rebound in the corner and found teammate
Leandro Barbosa, of the Toronto Raptors, inside the paint despite being guarded by
much taller Kevin Love his last second shot rimmed out sealing the victory.
It was a game of firsts for this United States squad, first time they were down after the
first quarter, first time they were trailing at halftime and the first time they didn’t win by
double digits.
It was a sloppy offensive game from a team that had averaged over 100 points in their
first two matches. After hitting 4 of 5 three pointers in the first quarter they finished the
game making only 2 of their last 12 attempts. The only U.S player who you could
comfortably say had a good game was team leader Kevin Durant who finished with
game highs in points and rebounds, 27 and 10 respectably; throw in 3 steals, an assist
and a block in clutch time.
In the first quarter Durant scored 9 of the U.S first 13 points to keep them close, Brazil
played a fantastic first quarter making 6 of 7 shots to start with 5 of them being in the
paint. Brazil had two separate runs of at least 7 consecutive points the first to take their
first lead and the second a 10-0 run that bridged the gap to the second.
With the hot shooting in the first quarter the teams combined to make 8 of 10 three
points with each team going 4 of 5. They scored a total of 50 points in the quarter while
the teams combined to score a total of 49 points in the entire second half. Sadly this
was the most exciting quarter of the game as each team shot worse and had their point
totals decline with each passing quarter.
There a common saying in sports that you learn more for a lose than a victory while I
think both teams can come away from this game with plenty to learn and fix before they
take on their next opponents after a days’ rest.
August 30, 2010
The United States barely hung on for a 70-68 win against Brazil to move their record
to 3-0 in group B. After Brazil guard Marcelo Tieppo Huertas missed 2 free throws with
3.5 seconds left he chased down the rebound in the corner and found teammate
Leandro Barbosa, of the Toronto Raptors, inside the paint despite being guarded by
much taller Kevin Love his last second shot rimmed out sealing the victory.
It was a game of firsts for this United States squad, first time they were down after the
first quarter, first time they were trailing at halftime and the first time they didn’t win by
double digits.
It was a sloppy offensive game from a team that had averaged over 100 points in their
first two matches. After hitting 4 of 5 three pointers in the first quarter they finished the
game making only 2 of their last 12 attempts. The only U.S player who you could
comfortably say had a good game was team leader Kevin Durant who finished with
game highs in points and rebounds, 27 and 10 respectably; throw in 3 steals, an assist
and a block in clutch time.
In the first quarter Durant scored 9 of the U.S first 13 points to keep them close, Brazil
played a fantastic first quarter making 6 of 7 shots to start with 5 of them being in the
paint. Brazil had two separate runs of at least 7 consecutive points the first to take their
first lead and the second a 10-0 run that bridged the gap to the second.
With the hot shooting in the first quarter the teams combined to make 8 of 10 three
points with each team going 4 of 5. They scored a total of 50 points in the quarter while
the teams combined to score a total of 49 points in the entire second half. Sadly this
was the most exciting quarter of the game as each team shot worse and had their point
totals decline with each passing quarter.
There a common saying in sports that you learn more for a lose than a victory while I
think both teams can come away from this game with plenty to learn and fix before they
take on their next opponents after a days’ rest.
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