Team USA showcases defense, tops Canada in Olympic tuneup - ESPN

LAS VEGAS — Team USA had plenty of miscues in its first dress rehearsal for the Olympics on Wednesday night. But after a comfortable 86-72 victory over Team Canada in front of a record-setting crowd of 20,756 at T-Mobile Arena, all Anthony Davis was focused on was Team USA's defensive potential.

«Unbeatable,» Davis said when asked how the U.S. will fare if it defends and runs the way it did Wednesday. «Offensively we were, to keep it frank, we were pretty terrible. But it's a good terrible in the sense of we were trying to make the right plays.… [But] if we're worried about offense, I think we're in a good spot.

»Where we hung our hat tonight was defensively."

Anthony Edwards led Team USA with 13 points off the bench, and Davis had 10 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks, as the Americans overcame a cold start to put the game out of reach early in the second half.

Team USA missed its first six shots and committed eight first-quarter turnovers. But as the game wore on, the Americans began to kick into gear, eventually pulling away to win by double-digits against one of their biggest rivals for the gold medal next month despite playing far below their best.

The Americans, who were playing in front of a raucous crowd that also included former President Barack Obama, held Canada to 33.8 percent shooting overall, including just 7-for-33 from 3-point range. Canada's star-studded backcourt of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jamal Murray went a combined 5-for-18 from the field.

«Good first game for us,» Team USA coach Steve Kerr said. «We are just starting with four days of practice. You could see the rust on us offensively early. We had a lot of turnovers in the first half, [but] I loved the defensive intensity, and the work on the