SYDNEY — Order restored.
After losing for the first time in nearly 13 years two days earlier, the United States rebounded to outclass Canada 84-68 in a pre-World Cup exhibition basketball game Monday.
At the same arena where the Americans won Olympic gold at the Sydney 2000 Games, the U.S. never trailed, leading 20-9 after the first quarter and 46-31 at halftime.
On Saturday, Australia stunned the U.S. 98-94 before a crowd of more than 52,000 in Melbourne, a result that ended the Americans’ 78-game winning streak.
The U.S. is missing top NBA players such as LeBron James, James Harden, Paul George and Stephen Curry. It was a dour scoring game after the exciting Saturday result in Melbourne, with both teams committing numerous turnovers Monday.
Jaylen Brown had 19 points to lead the Americans, who outrebounded Canada, 55-37. Donovan Mitchell added 12 points and four assists; Kemba Walker scored 12 points, and Myles Turner finished with 10 points and 15 rebounds.
“We have to speed up that learning curve,” Brown said of the Americans with less than a week to go before the World Cup. “We have a lot of room for growth. It’s going to be good when it comes together; the sky is the limit for this group.”
Kyle Wiltjer had 21 points for Canada, and Orlando Magic forward Khem Birch – Canada’s lone NBA player in the game – had 13 points and six rebounds.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do but we’ve enjoyed our time here,” Wiltjer said. “Let’s not forget these are practice games.”
Overall the Canadians shot just 35 percent from the field and 6 of 23 (26 percent) from 3-point range.
Andrew Nembhard, who injured his knee last week, and Kaza Kajami-Keane (ankle) returned for Canada, and Brady Heslip, a late arrival for the Canadians, played his first game in Australia.
The last time the Americans – counting major international tournaments and exhibitions with NBA players on the floor – lost a game was the semifinals of the 2006 world championships. The American program has won gold in every competition since, including three straight in the Olympics and two consecutive World Cup titles.
Still, Monday’s performance was far from perfect. The U.S. made 19 turnovers – six more than Canada. It has had double-digit turnovers in each exhibition game.
“Tonight was another good lesson for them to realize what the mindset has to be going into these games,” U.S. Coach Gregg Popovich said. “There’s a lot of improvement we can make, I think. We’ve got good potential there if we continue to execute better than we are now. We competed, that wasn’t a problem, but skill execution takes time.”
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