No Marcus Smart. No Jayson Tatum.
But Team USA still had enough Celtics to overwhelm Japan.
Jaylen Brown (20 points and seven rebounds) and Kemba Walker (15 points and eight assists) led the U.S. to a 98-45 win in their final first-round game Thursday. The domination is a welcome bounce-back for the Americans, who barely beat Turkey in their prior game.
The victory sets up a second-round opener against reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece on Saturday. It’ll be the rare game where Team USA doesn’t have the best player.
It’s still unclear which players Team USA will have at all. Tatum is out a couple games after hurting his ankle against Turkey. Smart, who was banged up during training camp, is the new addition to the injury report.
Brian Windhorst of ESPN:
Marcus Smart is out for Team USA with a left quad strain vs. Japan. He will be day-to-day. Missed time with calf strain on same leg last month.
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) September 5, 2019
The United States will also face Brazil in the second round Monday. Brazil beat Greece, indicating just how much more difficult the competition will get.
Thursday, Japan was completely overmatched. Wizards rookie Rui Hachimura, who had begun to build hype, scored just four points while Japan got outscored by 48 points in his 24 minutes. But he had a big dunk over Myles Turner late:
Rui Hachimura put Myles Turner on a poster 😳#FIBAWC pic.twitter.com/Cpe1qIyTaR
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) September 5, 2019