LAS VEGAS — The road to the Paris Olympics for the U.S. basketball team began with a victory.
Anthony Edwards scored 13 points, Stephen Curry added 12 and the United States opened its preparation schedule for the Paris Games by beating Canada 86-72 on Wednesday night.
Jrue Holiday scored 11 points and Anthony Davis finished with 10 for the United States, which has four more exhibitions before reaching France.
RJ Barrett scored 12 points for Canada, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Dillon Brooks each had 10.
Former President Barack Obama was in attendance at the game, as were many NBA coaches and dozens of USA Basketball dignitaries in town for the federation’s 50th anniversary celebration. Among them: Jerry Colangelo, Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Dawn Staley, Lisa Leslie, Teresa Edwards, Swin Cash, Lindsay Whalen and many more.
Total attendance was 20,757, a record for any game at T-Mobile Arena, USA Basketball said.
Fresh start
The U.S. trailed 11-1 midway through the first quarter, having missed its first six shot attempts. The rest of the first half: U.S. 40, Canada 22, and the Americans shot 18 of 28 (64.3%) in that span. The lead was 41-33 at halftime and the Americans extended it to 69-54 as the quarter began.
It was easy to see how the Americans, who have been together for less than a week, are still trying to figure things out — there were at least four occasions when simple passes ended up in the front row of seats because someone thought a zigzag was coming instead of a zag.
Second unity
The U.S. second team, consisting of Bam Adebayo, Tyrese Haliburton, Jayson Tatum, Davis and Edwards, was particularly impressive. Each of those five players had a plus-minus of +10 or higher, meaning the U.S. outscored Canada by at least 10 points with them on the court.
And so it should be. Only the Americans can trot out a lineup of “backup players” at the Olympics, all of them All-Stars. That quintet has 21 All-Star nominations in total, two NBA champions in Davis and Tatum and two perennial All-Defense players in Davis and Adebayo. Clearly not a typical second unit.
Oh, and remember: The U.S. was without Kevin Durant (calf strain) and Derrick White (not yet with the team) available on Wednesday.
For starters
The first starting lineup of the summer as presented by American coach Steve Kerr: Devin Booker, LeBron James, Joel Embiid, Curry and Holiday.
This could certainly change in the future, but if the past year is any indication, it's a clear view of what Kerr is thinking right now.
Kerr has cautioned in the past against reading too much into lineups, especially in the first scrimmage. That said, the first five he had in the first exhibition game last summer before the World Cup — Mikal Bridges, Jalen Brunson, Jaren Jackson Jr., Brandon Ingram and Edwards — were the starters in the tournament opener against New Zealand.
Following
The United States plays Australia in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Monday.
