FIBA World Cup 2014: USA Advances to Semifinals Thanks to Huge Second Half Against Slovenia
BySlovenia played a close game with the U.S. Men's National Basketball Team going into the half, but the Americans pulled away with a huge second half to advance to the FIBA semifinals.
Coming off the bench for the U.S., Klay Thompson led the way with 20 points in 28 minutes, hitting four three pointers in eight attempts and shooting 7-12 from the floor. Anthony Davis continued having a great FIBA World Cup, scoring 13 points, pulling down 11 boards and blocking three shots.
"I just want to play hard, play with a lot of passion, a lot of energy," Davis told Team USA's official website. "Coach definitely wants all the bigs to get offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, and wants every rebound to be ours so they only get one shot, so that's what me, Kenneth, DeMarcus, Rudy, that's all we try to do; Andre and Mason, just try and get every rebound."
After going into halftime up 49-44 against Slovenia, the U.S. outscored their opponents 70-34 in the second half. USA starting guard Stephen Curry said the team is now used to playing close games in the first half and hitting their stride in the second half.
"We know we're not going to blow everybody out from the start. Nothing is going to be easy," he told the team's website. "Even though the score was what it was, we felt like we had to really work for what we got tonight, and everybody on our team played well on both ends of the floor, so just happy to get the win."
Derrick Rose, who has struggled shooting in the FIBA World Cup, scored 12 points in 18 minutes off the bench. With potentially two games left in the tournament, the U.S. has to feel good about Rose shooting 6-10 from the field.
The U.S. plays Lithuania on Thursday in the semifinals and the FIBA Finals will be Sunday, Sept. 14.