MADRID – Sinalpak ni tournament MVP Kyrie Irving ang lahat ng kanyang anim na 3-point attempts at umiskor ng 26 points para pangunahan ang US sa 129-92 paglampaso sa Serbia at angkinin ang kanilang ikalawang sunod na FIBA World Cup title.
Nagdagdag si James Harden ng 23 points para sa Americans, tumipa ng 11 of 16 3-pointers sa first half.
“Obviously we didn’t have a very close game all tournament, but for that to happen we had to play hard for 40 minutes and not relax and not give any inch while we were out there,” sabi ni guard Stephen Curry.
Nagposte ang Americans ng winning average na 32.5 points per game at ang kanilang pinakamaliit na panalo ay ang kanilang 21-point win sa Turkey.
Inasahan nilang mahaharap sila sa isang mabigat na laban kontra sa Serbia. Ngunit hindi ito nangyari. Kagaya ng kanilang mga nakaraang laro, madaling nanalo ang mga Americans.
Naglista ang Team USA ng 15 of 30 3-point attempts at ang walo sa 12 players ay umiskor ng double figures.
Marami ang nagduda sa kakayahan ng koponan na magkampeon.
“I think the results were dominant, but we had spurts of dominance in a lot of games,” wika ni US coach Mike Krzyzewski. “And we had tough games and then all of a sudden we’d have a spurt and it looked like we dominated. Tonight we had like about a 35-minute spurt.”
Ang pagdududa sa kanilang talento at ang pagdududa sa abilidad nila ay kanilang tinapos sa pagkopo ng titulo sa World Cup.
“It kind of, again, a smack to our face, saying the US was sending the B-team to go play in the World Cup,” ani Kenneth Faried. “Just because LeBron’s not here, Kobe’s not here, (Kevin) Durant’s not here, doesn’t mean anything. We can step up and win the gold, too.”
Hindi nakuha ng Americans ang serbisyo nina All-Star forwards Durant, Kevin Love at Blake Griffin.