USA Tops Nigeria 110-66 in Pre-Rio Friendly

USA Basketball looked sharp in their last exhibition game before the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. They handily defeated Nigeria 110-66 at Toyota Center. So far, the only weak spot in their game across all of their exhibition matches has been their three-point shooting, which so far stands at 33.9%. That’s the negative. On a positive note Team USA has been excellent on the defensive end of the floor and will give many opponent headaches. They have long and athletic players in every position and should be able to capitalize on more than a few forced turnovers come the Olympic Games.

The three-point shooting was not as big an issue in this game as it might be against, say, some of their European opponents. Outside scoring is not a big part of Nigeria’s offensive repertoire and that allowed USA to march on to a 30-6 early run in the first half to blow out the game. From there it was just a matter of building on their lead as Team USA cruised to an easy win.

Nigeria was able to make some cuts into the paint and grab some easy buckets as well, but it was not enough to overcome the talent deficit on the floor at any given time. Credit must go to Nigeria’s Chamberlain Oguchi who poured in 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field. Carmelo Anthony led the blue shirts with 19 points of his own. Klay Thompson chipped in 17 points as well.

USA Basketball are the heavy favorites to win the Gold this year, but it will be interesting to watch as other top national teams bring their best to make the Americans sweat for their spoils. Teams like Spain, France, Lithuania, and Argentina are all top teams to be considered in the medal mix. Rio 2016 gets underway this weekend and basketball fans should be treated to some exciting games over the week of action.