The Americans would soon settle, reducing the deficit thanks to drawing a series of fouls on their drives to the rim. An 8-0 run by USA saw them down by only two, before a Delany drive put the lead back to 16-12 with just over a minute left in the quarter.
The foul count started to become an issue at this point; the Kiwis guilty of eight fouls in the period, with the Americans scoring 6 of their points on free throws. New Zealand ended the quarter down 18-19 thanks to a buzzer-beating layup by Taylor Britt; the Kiwis holding the US to 6/15 from the field and forcing six turnovers in a solid effort.
Te Rangi opened the second quarter with a triple, then soon followed with his third three-pointer and a layup shortly after to put New Zealand back up 26-25 with seven minutes remaining. With Ili heading to bench after picking up his third foul, the Americans quickly went on a 5-0 run, the Kiwis keeping it close thanks to a pair of triples from Le’afa.
With New Zealand’s shooting starting to go cold – hitting 6-17 from the field – in the tail end of the period, and with Delany and Wetzell joining Ili on the bench with three fouls, the United States outscored the Kiwis 26-18 in the half. Te Rangi led all scores at half-time with 11; Edwards with 8 for the United States. The most telling stat of the half was the foul count; the Kiwis collecting 16 in the first two quarters versus the American’s 8.
The third quarter saw both teams trading basket for basket over the first three minutes, the Americans ahead by 10 but unable to pull away. With Delany heading back to the bench with his fourth foul, the U.S. soon went on a 8-0 run, building the score to 64-47 before Tohi Smith-Millner hit a trio of free throws. It was at this point that Banchero started to heat up, scoring a quick 8 points include a pair of threes as the Americans built a 76-58 lead heading into the final period.
The fourth quarter saw both teams again going tit-for-tat in the scoring column, with the USA leading by 20 points thanks to a thunderous dunk by Jackson Jr, before Le’afa and Haliburton traded shots from outside the arc. With five minutes left and the Kiwis down by 15, the Tall Blacks were held scoreless for a four-minute stretch as the American’s defence tightened. A 14-2 United States run to end to the game helped give the United States a solid 27-point victory.
Following the game, captain Reuben Te Rangi reflected on the team’s effort over both halves.
“The first half we came out, we had a lot of fight; in the second half we lost a bit of our legs there but overall I think we can take a lot of things from this game and into our next two must-win games,” says Te Rangi.
“We need to come out for 40 minutes and have that fight for the whole 40 minutes, defensively we need to take a few things from that game and work on those things we didn’t do very well. But overall we’re going to take a lot of good things from this game so we can compete against these next two teams.”
Coach Cameron says he is proud of his players and they will now collectively shift their focus on to the next game versus Jordan.
“We’re always aiming to have a complete game, and it’s hard to maintain what you want to do. There’s always things you must adjust to, that’s what competition is about; along the way we fell in some areas we want to improve on,” says Cameron.
“It was a good test for us, a big challenge – and I’m very proud of how we came out and the whole game in general, so I’m looking forward to the next game.”
Next up for the Tall Blacks is a clash with Jordan on Monday 28 August at 8.45pm NZT. Watch all games live and free at TVNZ+ and Duke.
TIP-INS
New Zealand: No player on New Zealand’s roster has played an NBA game. The players on the US roster have combined to score 49,395 points in 3454 NBA games, including playoffs. … Finn Delany and Shea Ili each scored 12. ... New Zealand’s bench got outscored 54-23 by the US reserves.
USA: Jackson Jr. had a perfect shooting night — 4 for 4 from the field, 4 for 4 from the line. ... The Americans used 10 players in the first quarter, looking for the combination that worked. ... The US outscored New Zealand by 28 points in Josh Hart’s 15 minutes of play. ... Haliburton and Jalen Brunson each scored 10 points for the Americans.
SCOUT DETAIL
The US assistant coaches are splitting scouting responsibilities during the tournament. Gonzaga coach Mark Few was tasked with preparing the report for the New Zealand game, Los Angeles Clippers coach Tyronn Lue will do it for the Greece game on Monday and Miami coach Erik Spoelstra has it for the Jordan game on Wednesday.
STILL PERFECT
The US has played New Zealand four times now in senior men’s competition and won them all. The US prevailed 102-56 at the 2000 Olympics, 110-62 at the 2002 World Cup and 98-71 at the 2014 World Cup.
UP NEXT
New Zealand: Faces Jordan on Monday.
USA: Faces Greece on Monday.
