“Kemba Walker breaks the ice,” say the play-by-play announcers in Shanghai, as Team USA takes on the Czech Republic early on Sunday morning and Walker dances to the rim, finishing over the taller defender with deft touch on his layup for the first points of the game.
Believe it or not, with the Czech national team throwing a zone defense at the US national team’s collection of three-point threats and slashers — playing on the American’s lack of players adept at scoring off-the-dribble — they were able to keep the game to a low score through the first quarter, even holding the lead until late in the period.
However, Walker would continue to make dazzling plays, whether it required him to pull-up off-the-bounce to nail a jumper or use his court vision to find a teammate for the easy basket.
In the second quarter, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum — Walker’s teammate after spending eight seasons with the Charlotte Hornets — was a star for a time, knocking down a transition three and finding Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell for an open triple before driving to the rim aggressively for a tough two that put Team USA up 32-18 midway through the period.
To their credit, despite the only NBA player on their roster being Chicago Bulls guard Tomas Satoransky, the Czech Republic played intelligent and fundamentally sound basketball, often finding cutters after posting up to take advantage of Team USA’s lack of defensive chemistry.
After a beautiful up-and-under by Walker to end the the half, Team USA led the Czech national team 43-29.
As the Czech Republic switched to man-to-man defense, the game was all but over.
Mitchell’s 16 points (on 7-11 shooting from the field) were a team-high for the US and even Sacramento Kings forward Harrison Barnes outscored Walker with 14 points (on 5-8 shooting from the field) but Walker’s 13 points (on 6-8 shooting from the field) was the lifeblood of Team USA on Sunday.
Tatum, who had struggled in exhibition play, scored 10 points (on 4-11 shooting from the field) in the group phase, showing a solid turnaround from his recent performances.
As for the rest of Team Shamrock, after starring against Canada, Celtics swingman Jaylen Brown (2 points) had a much quieter night against the Czech Republic but still played solid defense. As did Celtics guard Marcus Smart, who made a couple of nice baskets in the second half.
The next game for Team USA in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup will be against Turkey on Tuesday.
