Lillard, Johnson lead U.S. men to win over Spain in exhibition
Two days after being added to the Olympic team, Keldon Johnson keyed a huge thirdquarter run to help the United States beat Spain.
Damian Lillard scored 19 points and Johnson added 15 in an 8376 victory Sunday night in Las Vegas in the final preOlympic game for both teams before they head to Tokyo.
Johnson had been one of the young players training against the Americans, and he had appeared in two exhibition games. The San Antonio Spurs forward/guard was added to the Olympic squad Friday after Bradley Beal tested positive for the coronavirus and Kevin Love withdrew because of a calf injury. The U.S. also added former Warriors center JaVale McGee, who didn’t play Sunday.
“Keldon Johnson played a really solid basketball game, made cuts to the bucket,” U.S. coach Gregg Popovich said. “When he did go to the bucket, he was very physical. Very solid in halfcourt defense. He had a very, very good night.”
This was the U.S. team’s fourth exhibition in eight days in Las Vegas. The Americans were supposed to have a fifth against Australia on Friday, but that was canceled out of caution because of the coronavirus issues the Americans were dealing with.
The two topranked teams in the world struggled early on, with Spain missing its first six shots before getting a basket 4:35 into the game.
Despite the slow start, the Spaniards led 1814 after one quarter and led 3836 at the half. Lillard and Kevin Durant each had 11 points at the half. The two combined to go 7for16 from the field while the rest of the U.S. squad was 5for19. Ricky Rubio had 14 points at the half for Spain.
“The defense was pretty solid. We couldn’t make a shot, but they didn’t let up defensively,“Popovich said. “Kept their focus in that regard, which will be important.”
Spain had only one field goal in the final 5:44 of the third quarter and was down 5750 heading into the fourth.
While the U.S. struggled at times in Las Vegas, Rubio, who has played internationally for
years, thinks they’ll figure it out.
“It’s the first time they are playing together; it takes time,” he said. “They are dangerous if they play as a team.”