ISTANBUL– An arena that was nearly covered in Slovenian green grew louder with every U.S. miss.
Playing a rare early game, the
United States had stalled after a quick start, and a double-digit lead
was down to five as halftime approached.
Then, every time the Americans needed them, Kevin Durant seemed to get on the scoreboard and Kevin Love was on the backboard.
Durant scored 22 points, Love
added 10 points and 11 rebounds in a gritty 13 minutes off the bench,
and the Americans beat Slovenia 99-77 on Sunday in an opening-round
game.
"They did a great job of
fighting, getting stops and making plays, and we know that we can't go
out here and blow every team out," Durant said. "We had to make this a
grind game and we did that, and a good job of keeping our composure."
Rudy Gay finished with 16 points
for the Americans (2-0), while Russell Westbrook and Andre Iguodala each
had 11. Durant shot 8 of 13 before sitting out the fourth quarter and
Love always seemed to be around the ball — even when a Slovenian player
tried holding his arm so he couldn't get it.
Bostjan Nachbar scored 13 points
for Slovenia (1-1), which had an enormous edge in the stands but not
enough to match the Americans on the court.
"I think we tried our best. We
made Team USA play their best basketball, which was very important,"
said Nachbar, who once played with the New Jersey Nets. "I think across
40 minutes you could see which team was better, I don't think there was a
question about it, but for us, especially for young players, it was a
big confidence booster."
Slovenian fans, many dressed in
green shirts, lined the streets outside the arena some 90 minutes before
tipoff. They filled large areas throughout the building, and stood and
roared when the Slovenians came out for pregame warmups.
There wasn't as much for them to cheer about once the game started.
"We're used to that playing in
Spain and Greece, so it was cool," Durant said. "I think we had to do a
better job of holding onto the game and keeping them quiet by making
plays, and I think we did that."
Durant ripped the ball away on
Slovenia's opening possession and raced in for a dunk about 20 seconds
into the game. Nachbar answered with a basket, but the Americans ran off
10 straight points, with Durant nailing a 3-pointer before throwing
down another dunk for a 12-2 lead.
The Americans made eight of
their first 11 shots from the field and led 23-11 after one quarter,
then suddenly went cold in the second.
They didn't make a field goal
for the first 6 1/2 minutes of the period, allowing Slovenia to crawl
within 28-23 on Sani Becirovic's free throws with 3:36 to go. Westbrook
snapped the U.S. out of that drought with a basket, then fed Love for
another to start an 8-0 spurt that made it 36-23.
Love later flexed his muscle for
another basket, grabbing an offensive rebound with one arm while Uros
Slokar was holding the other, and putting it back in while being fouled.
"I was actually just trying to
put it right over the rim," Love said. "It happened to go off glass and
it's good to have a little bit of luck on your side."
Love is earning more of a role with the team after his minutes were limited by injuries during much of training camp.
"I know if I'm going to stay in
the game and play minutes, I have to get out there and get every rebound
and that's kind of what Coach [Mike Krzyzewski] tells me," Love said.
The Americans led by 14 points
at halftime before putting it away midway through the third quarter.
Lamar Odom and Derrick Rose made consecutive 3-pointers, Iguodala had a
steal and dunk, and Durant added a basket and 3-pointer for a 59-32
bulge with 4 1/2 minutes remaining.
The Slovenians got little from
Phoenix Suns guard Goran Dragic, who had 16 points in their opening
victory over Tunisia. He finished with seven points on 2-of-8 shooting.
Gasper Vidmar scored 10.
The Americans face Brazil on Monday night, then have an off day before their final two games in group play.
"No relax, never relax until the
tournament's over," Odom said. "Then we have two or three weeks until
training camp. Then we'll relax."