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Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson lead Americans to easy win in FIBA World Cup tune-up

Team USA jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead in their friendly against a Luka Doncic-less Slovenia on Saturday and never looked back. They led by double-digits for the majority of the afternoon en route to a 92-62 victory in the second of five tune-up games ahead of the 2023 FIBA World Cup.

For the second consecutive game, Anthony Edwards led the way in the scoring department with 15 points, while Jalen Brunson (11 points, four rebounds and eight assists), Tyrese Haliburton (10 points, four rebounds and six assists) and Austin Reaves (10 points, five rebounds and four assists) all had solid all-around performances. It was a true team effort, as nine players had at least seven points and everyone on the roster scored.

About the only negative aspect of this outing for Team USA was that their poor 3-point shooting continued. After shooting just 6-of-27 from downtown against Puerto Rico earlier this week, the Americans went 9-of-33 versus Slovenia. It’s worth noting that Brunson is the only player on the roster who finished in the top 30 in 3-point shooting in the NBA last season, and Cameron Johnson, Haliburton, Reaves and Bridges were the only other players in even the top 75. They create so many good looks that you would expect the shooting to improve, but this could be an Achilles heel for this group.

Next up for the Americans is Spain on Sunday, which will conclude their short trip to Malaga. That game figures to be their first real test of the summer after two comfortable wins. After departing Spain, they will travel to the United Arab Emirates for their final two tune-up games against Greece and Germany in Abu Dhabi.

Then, it will be time for the real games to begin. Team USA has been drawn into Group C in the World Cup along with Greece, Jordan and New Zealand, with all of those games taking place in Manila, Philippines. Those games will run from Aug. 26-30, and they must finish in the top two to advance to the second round of the tournament.

There is always immense pressure on the Americans in any major tournament, but even more so this year after they stumbled to a seventh-place finish in the 2019 World Cup. Team USA last won the World Cup in 2014, and has five gold medals overall — tied with Yugoslavia for the most all-time.

‘That didn’t age well for me’

Golden State Warriors forward Klay Thompson is the latest player to sit down with Los Angeles Clippers star Paul George on his podcast, “Podcast P.” During his appearance, Thompson admitted that he regrets taunting Devin Booker during a loss to the Phoenix Suns last season.

The Oct. 25 match-up was just the fourth game of the season for both clubs, but it had a playoff-like atmosphere. In the third quarter, Thompson started jawing with Booker, repeatedly reminding him that he had four championships to his name. The two eventually came face-to-face, which resulted in double technicals. A few minutes later, Thompson received another technical for shoving Mikal Bridges, which earned him the first ejection of his career.

While the game was close when Thompson was ejected, the Suns later pulled away for a 134-105 win. Thompson finished with two points on 1-of-8 from the field, and was soundly outplayed by Booker, who finished with 34 points and seven assists.

“Yeah, I was in my feelings though and Book was busting my ass that day,” Thompson told George. “I was not where I needed to be. God. You know stuff doesn’t age well and that didn’t age well for me. I don’t need to be flexing four rings, bro, like everybody know that. That’s on Wikipedia. My game wasn’t where it was at and we all get insecure at times.

“I’m man enough to admit that we all have our moments of weakness. I’m not really proud of that one. Cause I see Devin Booker and I should be like, man, I should be proud of this young man. The work he’s put in. He survived a tough regime in Phoenix where everyone getting traded, he’s playing for a new coach every year but now he’s a franchise player cause he just kept working. So, I admire the guys who have work ethic like that, you know?”

Good chance you won’t see Klay flexing his 4 rings to opponents again 😂 pic.twitter.com/xOXLGZqfW6

— Podcast P with Paul George (@PodcastPShow) August 7, 2023
The respect is mutual. After that game, Booker said that the exchange didn’t change his attitude towards Thompson.

“I love Klay Thompson,” Booker said. “I have from the beginning. From the draft, coming out, I said I wanted to be Klay Thompson. That doesn’t excuse us from competing against each other and talking a little mess with each other. I had fun with it. Big fan of his and his competitive nature, and that’s that.”

As Booker’s quote from the moment shows, this incident wasn’t a big deal. Still, it was pretty cool to see Thompson being this candid in an interview and admit that he wasn’t proud of how he handled that moment. We usually don’t see that from players, especially while they’re still active.