By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
After the loss to France, the USA rocked Iran, 120-66, making it to 1-1 in the Olympic Games preliminary round.
Damian Lillard led the way with 21 points. His 7/13 from outside made up all of his points. Gregg Popovich’s players finished 19/39 overall from beyond the arc in their second game at Saitama Super Arena.
The 19 three-pointers became the fourth-best long-range effort in Olympic Games history. The USA had 29 against Nigeria and 20 against Argentina in 2012, while Lithuania fired 21 on the United States in 2004.
It was one-way traffic for a determined USA squad heavily relying on long-range shooting. Devin Booker added 16 points. Jayson Tatum went for 14 points. Zach LaVine ended up with 13 points.
A dominating display also including 34 team assists. LaVine dished out eight of those.
Mohammad Jamshidi and Hamed Haddadi shared a team-high 14 points at the losing end. Navid Rezaeifar followed with 13 points.
USA faces the Czech Republic on Saturday to wrap up its Group A fixtures. A potential win would clinch a quarterfinal berth. Iran, down 0-2, needs to beat France in three days and hope for favorable results elsewhere to progress.
Photo Credit: FIBA.BASKETBALL