Friday, July 23, 1999
Dream Team trashes Puerto Rico
BY CHRIS SHERIDAN
AP Basketball Writer
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The United States taught Puerto Rico a lesson: Don't dare talk trash to a Dream Team.
“If you talk trash, you've got to be able to back it up,” Tim Hardaway said after the Americans stunned the crowd and their opponent in the first few seconds and silenced them in the second half of a 115-76 victory Thursday night.
Fired up by a series of bold predictions by the host team, the Americans came out focused and full of energy as a sellout crowd of 12,345 was still settling into its seats.
Led by Tim Duncan, it took the Americans only 90 seconds to score the game's first 10 points, and the United States went on to play its best all-around game of the tournament.
“The crowd and the comments by the Puerto Rican team kind of inspired us a little bit,” coach Larry Brown said. “If they thought they could beat us, they shouldn't have said it.
Said Hardaway: “You don't talk like that to a bunch of ballplayers that talk (trash) for a living. We know how to back it up.”
And back it up they did, finishing the second round undefeated (8-0) and clinching the No. 1 seed in the semifinals, which will be played Saturday with two berths in the 2000 Olympics at stake.
Argentina will be the opponent for the United States, a matchup that became official when Canada beat Venezuela 84-55 in Thursday's late game.
Steve Smith scored 19 points, Gary Payton 17, Hardaway and Duncan 16 apiece, Vin Baker 12, Kevin Garnett 11 and Allan Houston 10. Duncan also had nine rebounds and four blocks.
Miami University product Wally Szczerbiak had two points.
“Tonight we were motivated to play well and felt we had to play our best game to win, and we're really pleased with our performance,” Brown said. “We needed to get off to a good start with the energy in the building, and we certainly did that.”
Despite playing their eighth game in eight nights, the Americans didn't show a hint of fatigue.
Duncan dunked just 4 seconds into the game and added another dunk with 18:30 left off a steal by Payton as the Americans opened with a full-court trap.
It was 25-16 before Brown made his first substitutions with 12:40 left, and 34-20 before Puerto Rico made its only run of the night.
Orlando Vega had two 3-pointers and a layup in a 10-2 spurt that pulled the Puerto Ricans within 36-30, eliciting a deafening roar from a home crowd that came equipped with horns, drums, trombones, flags and even a anti-American political banner or two.
Puerto Rico then went more than 41/2 minutes before its next field goal, and the United States used a 13-3 run to go ahead by 16 points en route to a 53-35 halftime lead.
“The best thing for them would have been if there was no crowd here, then we might have been a little sluggish,” Smith said. “But to get everyone hyped and ready, I think that was the worst thing that could have happened to them.”
Duncan had 14 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks in the first half alone.
Puerto Rico pulled within 14 points on a 3-pointer by Carmelo Travieso with 16:02 left before the Americans ended all doubt with an 18-0 run including seven points by Payton, five by Hardaway and four by Garnett to make it 81-49.
Baker got the United States to 100 points on a foul shot with 4:25 left, and the Americans finished just short of their tournament-high 118 against Uruguay.
“They talked trash, but we talked back to them what they didn't want to hear,” Hardaway said. “Everybody got on the bus hyped up and ready to go. We were ready yesterday to play this team.”
In earlier games, Argentina defeated Brazil 79-77 to clinch a spot in the semifinals, and the Dominican Republic defeated Uruguay 78-71.
UNITED STATES (115) — Duncan 8-13 0-0 16, Kidd 3-6 1-1 7, Houston 2-6 4-4 10, Garnett 5-9 1-2 11, Payton 8-11 0-0 17, Smith 6-7 6-7 19, Hardaway 7-14 0-1 17, Gugliotta 1-3 0-0 2, Baker 3-8 6-9 12, Szczerbiak 1-2 0-0 2, Brand 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 45-81 18-24 115.
PUERTO RICO (76) — Mincy 3-9 0-0 7, J.Ortiz 5-9 3-4 13, Casiano 2-8 2-2 7, Carter 3-8 0-0 7, Vega 5-12 3-3 15, O.Santiago 0-1 0-0 0, Travieso 2-5 0-0 5, F.Ortiz 2-4 2-2 6, Fajardo 1-4 3-6 5, Allende 1-4 2-4 4, D.Santiago 2-6 3-4 7. Totals 26-70 18-25 76.
Halftime—US 53-35. 3-Point goals—United States 7-15 (Hardaway 3-6, Houston 2-4, Smith 1-1, Payton 1-2, Kidd 0-1, Garnett 0-1), Puerto Rico 6-24 (Vega 2-4, Carter 1-2, Travieso 1-3, Casiano 1-4, Mincy 1-5, Allende 0-1, Fajardo 0-1, O.Santiago 0-1, J.Ortiz 0-1, F.Ortiz 0-2). Fouled out—D.Santiago. Rebounds—United States 53 (Duncan 14), Puerto Rico 31 (D.Santiago 6). Assists—United States 22 (Payton 5), Puerto Rico 9 (J.Ortiz, Casiano, O.Santiago 2). Total fouls—United States 23, Puerto Rico 21. A—12,345.
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