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United States | 113 | Final | 59 | Dominican Republic |  |
STARTERS
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Chris Paul, G 0-1 FG | 0-1 3PT | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 3 AST | 0 PTS Whether it was to rest his injured thumb or for some other reason, Paul didn't see much time on Thursday, playing only 8 minutes. When he was on the floor, he was his usual CP3 self, but the sample size isn't big enough to fairly award a grade. |
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Kobe Bryant, G 2-6 FG | 0-3 3PT | 0-0 FT | 2 REB | 1 AST | 4 PTS A below-average effort for Kobe. He looked disjointed and, dare I say it, old out there. Nevertheless, he is still Kobe and he hit a few unreal shots, as he is prone to doing. This clearly wasn't his best game, but Kobe's not done yet. |
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Carmelo Anthony, F 3-6 FG | 0-0 3PT | 7-8 FT | 5 REB | 0 AST | 13 PTS Carmelo score very efficiently, repeatedly attacking the basket and getting to the line. He's still not interested in playing defense, but if he was, hell might actually freeze over. Melo just is who he is — and he had a solid game against the D.R. |
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LeBron James, F 2-5 FG | 1-3 3PT | 2-4 FT | 2 REB | 3 AST | 7 PTS LeBron James is the best player in the world, but he was mostly invisible on Thursday. Coach K opted to rest him, playing him only 17 minutes, but he wasn't aggressive when he did get his chances. That's fine in Vegas, not so much in London. |
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Tyson Chandler, C 3-3 FG | 0-0 3PT | 1-2 FT | 5 REB | 1 AST | 7 PTS Chandler got into foul trouble early, which is something that absolutely cannot happen against teams like Spain and Brazil. However, he rallied in the second half and showed why he'll be indispensable as the anchor of the defense. |
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BENCH
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Kevin Durant, F 9-11 FG | 5-6 3PT | 1-2 FT | 10 REB | 2 AST | 24 PTS Wow. It's official. Kevin Durant is a basketball cyborg sent to Earth to obliterate us all with pure scoring power. This was the picture of efficiency — 24 and 10 on 82 percent shooting? As our British friends would (will?) say, bloody hell. |
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Russell Westbrook, G 3-7 FG | 0-2 3PT | 0-1 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 6 PTS Just like Melo will always be Melo, Russell will always be Russell. He plays like his hair is on fire at all times, and 75 percent of the time it's completely awesome. He did turn it over 4 times, but he made up for it by being an absolute demon on D. |
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Deron Williams, G 3-6 FG | 0-3 3PT | 0-0 FT | 1 REB | 10 AST | 6 PTS With Paul sitting, Williams shouldered the vast majority of the point guard duties to impressive effect. He didn't shoot the ball very well, but he distributed and found open looks for his teammates, a role this team desperately needs filled without CP3. |
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Andre Iguodala, F 7-9 FG | 4-6 3PT | 0-0 FT | 3 REB | 1 AST | 18 PTS I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that Iguodala might be the ideal international role player. He's long and athletic, lives in the passing lanes, and can knock down an open three-ball. He was a total maniac on Thursday — in a very, very good way. |
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Kevin Love, F 4-7 FG | 1-3 3PT | 2-3 FT | 5 REB | 2 AST | 11 PTS Love started really slow before picking up his scoring in the second half — but not until he hoisted up a couple hideous airballs. (Had to mention that.) He will probably only be a role player on this team, but hey, someone has to rebound, right? |
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James Harden, G 3-9 FG | 1-5 3PT | 1-2 FT | 2 REB | 2 AST | 8 PTS Not Harden's best first impression. He had some nice moments and played hard, but he was cold as cold gets. As someone who is on the roster almost exclusively to be a floor-spacer, that will need to improve if he wants significant minutes. |
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Anthony Davis, C 3-4 FG | 1-1 3PT | 2-3 FT | 1 REB | 0 AST | 9 PTS He didn't play much, but The Brow more than held his own in the little time he got, even knocking down an and-one three and playfully taunting Coach Cal. It remains to be seen whether he can continue to play at this pace, but Davis showed promise. |
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