Team USA defeats No. 1 Spain in FIBA World Cup exhibition: ‘We have more good players,’ Kerr says
MALAGA, Spain — A Team USA win being considered an upset of any kind is virtually unheard of, but as far as the FIBA World rankings go, the underdog was victorious Sunday.
The American national team entered a friendly ranked No. 2 in the world, and defeated No. 1 Spain, 98-88, behind an exhibition-season high 21 points from Jalen Brunson and a big night from Jaren Jackson Jr.
Team USA may be 3-0 on this barnstorming tour headed toward the FIBA World Cup, but this was the first stiff test. They played in front of a boisterous, native crowd of 10,850 fans in Malaga, Spain, on the southern coast, in a tight affair in which the Spaniards briefly led in the fourth quarter.
Sure, there were some American fans sprinkled in here and there, but they weren’t the ones whistling at Team USA (that’s what fans in many of these other basketball countries do to taunt opponents or the refs). They certainly weren’t chanting “España” in unison, singing Spanish folk songs or serenading Santi Aldama with “Al-dah-mah” cheers.
If there were about 11,000 people here, it sounded like twice as many, and it felt like many of them were on the court guarding the Americans in the third quarter when Team USA blew a 10-point halftime lead and committed seven turnovers.
“I feel like all of us, we all live for the road games (in the NBA),” said Mikal Bridges, who contributed five of his 12 points in the fourth. “Every time we see each other, I always say like, ‘I love playing against y’all at your spot.’ … This was crazy. I mean, that third quarter when they went off, when they started to turn it up and walking us down, just it was, wow.
“Atmosphere is contagious. And that’s funny. I was talking to my teammates about playing in the national championship, playing in the finals is just a different type of atmosphere. And this is like one thing that you dream of, and we aren’t even in the stadium in the Philippines (for the World Cup).”
“But even coming here and being in Spain, this ridiculous man,” Bridges continued. “I’m happy I’m a part of this, happy I’m going through this.”
The Americans were ahead, 55-45, at halftime, but when the two sides returned for the third quarter the Americans weren’t ready. Spain scored the first five and coach Steve Kerr called a timeout to settle things down, and then the Spaniards scored the next four out of the timeout. Jackson momentarily stopped the bleeding with a 3-pointer, but Spain grabbed the lead on two Aldama free throws with just under four minutes left in the third. It remained tight for another 10 game minutes.
“I think we closed the first half with a good run and had a 10-point lead and let our guard down,” Kerr said. “I think it’s a great lesson for us. You can’t afford to let your guard down and figure, well, you can do it in the NBA. And a lot of times, you don’t want to do it (in the NBA) and you can get away with it. But you’re playing the fire if you let your guard down in FIBA (40-minute games instead of 48), and I thought in the first few minutes of the third, they just extended their pressure defensively and it got them back in the game.”
Jackson finished with 14 points, five boards and three blocks, showing his mettle and his value to this team against NBA-sized bigs in Aldama and the Hernangomez brothers. Jackson gave Team USA the lead for good with 9:35 left on an and-1 but otherwise was a force inside that was not quite accounted for on the stat sheet.
Anthony Edwards, the Americans’ leading scorer through two games, scored seven of his 11 points in the final frame.
Brunson scored just one in the fourth, but he was unquestionably the tone-setter for the Americans. He connected on all nine of his shot attempts and contributed five assists for the game, scoring 16 in the first half alone. (And hey, Spanish and American fans alike all sang “Sweet Caroline” after the game was over like it was Fenway Park.)
“I just wanted to make sure that we were all on the same page and that we wanted to win,” Brunson said of his hot start. “I was just playing the way the defense was playing me. I wasn’t coming in thinking I needed to put the ball in the hoop, but those opportunities came and the ball went in.
“I played terrible in the third quarter and wasn’t ready to go from the jump,” Brunson added.
The Americans had by far their best showing from 3-point range so far, connecting on 10-of-18 from deep, and they also committed 20 turnovers. Brandon Ingram and Austin Reaves each scored 11 points, and assist machine Tyrese Haliburton handed out another 12 of those. Frankly, we’ve lost count through three games (well actually, it’s 18 dimes so far, but it’s hard to count them as they come at such a dizzying pace).
Aldama, Jackson’s teammate on the Memphis Grizzlies, scored 14 points for Spain, while Willy Hernangomez, who was in the NBA last season with New Orleans, finished with 13 points, and Juancho Hernangomez, formerly of Toronto, scored 11 points. In the last two major international tournaments, NBA-caliber bigs have given the Americans fits, which is why it’s good to have Jackson on board and protecting the rim.
Speaking of those global events, let’s briefly recap how Spain became No. 1 over the U.S.
From the summer of 2019 through this month, Team USA has finished seventh at the World Cup in China and won gold at the Tokyo Olympics with NBA talent. Then, USAB finished third at the AmeriCup, a tournament of countries from North America and South America, and lost two games in the 2023 World Cup qualifying rounds with G Leaguers and former pros.
Spain, meanwhile, won the 2019 World Cup, fell to the Americans in the Olympic quarterfinals and then won EuroBasket last year.
Since 2017, FIBA has ranked teams based on a weighted system of games and victories, and results stay with teams for six years.
And of course, the ranking matters not at all when it comes to what happens on the court (or World Cup seeding, for that matter). The Americans firmly believe, and with good reason, they are the deepest team in the 32-team field coming up.
“We know we have to lean into our depth,” Kerr said. “We think we have more good players than the rest of the teams, more depth.”
Team USA leaves Spain Monday for Abu Dhabi and two more exhibition games, against Greece and Germany.
