Anthony Davis scored 13 points, Stephen Curry added 12, and the United States started its tune-up schedule for the Paris Games by defeating Canada 86-72 on Wednesday night.
Jrue Holiday scored 11 points and Anthony Davis finished with 10 for the U.S., which has four more exhibitions before heading to France.
RJ Barrett scored 12 points for Canada, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dillon Brooks each added 10.
President Barack Obama attended the game, along with many NBA coaches and numerous USA Basketball dignitaries celebrating the federation’s 50th anniversary. Notable attendees included Jerry Colangelo, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Dawn Staley, Lisa Leslie, Teresa Edwards, Swin Cash, Lindsay Whalen, and many more.
The total attendance was 20,757, a record for any game at T-Mobile Arena, according to USA Basketball.
The U.S. team was down 11-1 midway through the first quarter, having missed its first six shot attempts. The rest of the half saw the U.S. outscore Canada 40-22, shooting 64.3% (18 for 28). The lead was 41-33 at halftime, and the Americans stretched it to 69-54 going into the fourth quarter.
Despite being together for less than a week, the American team showed some rust, with several simple passes ending up in the first row of seats. However, only the U.S. can field a lineup of “bench players” at the Olympics, all of whom are All-Stars. This second unit boasts 21 combined All-Star nods, two NBA champions (Davis and Tatum), and two perennial All-Defense players (Davis and Adebayo).
Notably, the U.S. played without Kevin Durant (calf strain) and Derrick White (not yet with the team).
For Starters
U.S. coach Steve Kerr’s first starting lineup of the summer included Stephen Curry, Jrue Holiday, Devin Booker, LeBron James, and Joel Embiid. While this lineup may change, it provides insight into Kerr’s current thinking. Kerr has previously cautioned against reading too much into early lineups, as evidenced by last summer’s World Cup preparations where the initial scrimmage lineup became the starting five in the tournament opener against New Zealand.
