[ Source : www.fiba.basketball/basketballworldcup ]

Maybe it was the Haka before the game that impressed Steve Kerr’s men, but their slow start saw New Zealand open up a 10-point lead.

There was no panic, the USA got the job done by retaking the lead before halftime and easing away to a comfy 99-72 win in the end.

The Tall Blacks will search for their first win in two days’ time when they take on Jordan. USA, meanwhile, could potentially even clinch the top spot in the group with a win over Greece.

Turning point: New Zealand had the world’s attention with their usual pregame Haka, and it seemed to get them in the right mood to start the game in sixth gear, too. They punished the USA defence to get off to a 14-4 lead and feel the love of the 10,978 fans in the Mall of Asia Arena.

But once the USA dropped their drop coverage and moved to switch defensively, with Paolo Banchero as the man in the middle, they were fighting back and went to the locker room at halftime with a 45-36 lead. New Zealand did not allow them to open up a 20-point lead until late in the game, but also could not get back to single digits against a balanced USA attack.

TCL Player of the Game: Banchero will turn 21 in November, but he looked like a seasoned veteran off the bench. He had a game-high 21 points, making back-to-back threes in the third quarter when USA were putting more daylight between the two teams.

Banchero shot 8-of-10 from the field and had a game-high 4 blocks, as well.

Stats don’t lie: New Zealand are known as a fast-paced team, They led the entire FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in scoring, but even they could not match the pace of this squad. The USA had a 22-6 edge in fast break points, summarizing perfectly what they do best.

Bottom line: Apart from the opening quarter, coach Kerr will be happy with both the offensive and the defensive part of the game, but with the load management too. All 12 of his players got minutes, Jalen Brunson and Anthony Edwards leading them with 25 and 24 minutes, respectively.

New Zealand were not scared, four men were in double digits in scoring, led by Reuben Te Rangi with 15. They have their two big games coming up against Jordan and Greece – two wins could see them through to the Second Round.

They said: “Our first half, we came out and had a lot of fire. In the second half, we lost a little bit of our legs there, but overall we can take a lot of things from that game, and move them into the next two games.” – Reuben Te Rangi, New Zealand

“The opening handshake was good, strong and forceful. Just being able to maintain that for the full game was always a question. I’m proud of my guys, we move on to the next game.” – Pero Cameron, New Zealand head coach

“I’ve kinda seen it coming, I was talking to (LA Lakers assistant coach) Phil Handy and he was telling me, ‘They love the Lakers out here.’ It’s special for me, I’m from a super small town, and not a lot of people expected me to be here, representing our country, so for them to accept me the way they accept me, it means a lot.” – Austin Reaves, USA, talking about being the fan favourite in the Philippines

“That’s always the equation. As coaches, you have to factor in all these things when you decide what scheme to play, whether you’re switching or dropping or whatever. You look at the opponent, you figure out what you need to do to win that game. Some things you live with, you kind go into every game trying to figure out what you are willing to live with versus non-negotiables. We base our defensive coverages on those thoughts.” – Steve Kerr, USA head coach