Paolo Banchero scored 21 points off the bench, Anthony Edwards added 14 and the U.S. shook off a slow start to beat New Zealand 99-72 on Saturday in the Basketball World Cup opener for both teams.
that was performed by New Zealand’s players pregame on Saturday as the traditional rallying cry to show national pride and serve as a challenge to opponents.Banchero scored 21 points off the bench in his first World Cup game, Anthony Edwards added 14 and the U.S. shook off a 10-point early deficit on the way to beating New Zealand 99-72 in the tournament opener for both teams.
Jaren Jackson Jr. and Austin Reaves each scored 12 for the Americans, who remained unbeaten in six games this summer — the first five of them exhibitions. This game was the first that counted for the Americans, who are trying to win the World Cup for the sixth time and erase the memory of finishing seventh in FIBA’s biggest tournament four years ago in China.
New Zealand’s players performed that pregame haka — the show of dancing, stomping and chanting done by the entire 12-man roster — with the U.S. players standing at the other end and watching in silence. Greece coach Dimitrios Itoudis said he expected his team’s opening game — a 21-point win over Jordan on Saturday — to be tough. He was asked postgame what he expected from the matchup with the U.S.’s roster has played an NBA game. The players on the U.S. roster have combined to score 49,395 points in 3,454 NBA games, including playoffs. … Finn Delany and Shea Ili each scored 12. … New Zealand’s bench got outscored 54-23 by the U.S. reserves.
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