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US beats Turkey to pocket 1st FIBA Worlds in 16 yrs

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-09-13 11:31

Kevin Durant of US (L) goes up to shoot against Turkey's Semih Erden (R) during their FIBA Basketball World Championship final game in Istanbul September 12, 2010. [Photo/Agencies]

The Americans already knew they'd be bringing a different team to Turkey after all the gold medalists from the 2008 Olympics opted to take this summer off. Then All-Star forwards Amare Stoudemire and David Lee were forced to withdraw on the opening day of training camp.

The US was left with a young, undersized team, featuring six players 22 or younger and only one true center in Tyson Chandler, who quickly became a backup when forward Odom was installed as the starter.

These Americans produced where many of their bigger-name predecessors couldn't four years ago at the worlds in Japan. They began to silence the raucous Turkish home crowd midway through the second quarter with a superb defensive effort.

Durant scored 20 points in the first half, then hit consecutive 3-pointers early in the third quarter, yelling at Turkish fans sitting courtside and pounding his chest after the second, as the US quickly extended a 10-point halftime lead.

The US held Turkey to one field goal over the first 6 minutes of the second quarter, extending the lead to 10 on a 3-pointer by Durant. The Americans were ahead 42-32 at halftime.

FIBA inducted its Hall of Fame class at halftime, a group that included women's star Cheryl Miller, former NBA centers Vlade Divac and Arvydas Sabonis, and Brazilian star Oscar Schmidt.