United States of America basketball dug deep to take a perfect exhibition record into the World Cup.
In their final tuneup game before flying to the Philippines for the World Cup, the United States defeated Germany 99-91 on Sunday night behind 34 points from Anthony Edwards, 16 points from Austin Reaves, and 15 points from Tyrese Haliburton.
The Americans went on an 18-0 run in the last minutes to secure a perfect 5-0 exhibition record.
For Germany, 16 points and 10 assists came from Dennis Schroder, and 14 points came from Moritz Wagner in addition to 17 points from Franz Wagner. For the first time this summer, a team led the United States by more than four points, but ultimately fell short.
A 3-pointer by Moritz Wagner with 6:58 remaining gave Germany an 86-77 lead. The following eight shots the Germans attempted missed the mark, and the Americans went on to score the next 18 points.
The U.S. team has had very little issue clicking so far despite having only been together for 2 and a half weeks. The Americans started their tuneup program with a 117-74 victory against Puerto Rico in Las Vegas, and continued on to Spain, where they defeated Slovenia (92-62) and Spain (98-88), despite the Slovenians playing without Luka Doncic. They finished off their preparations in Spain before flying to Abu Dhabi, where they first defeated Greece (108-86) on Friday and then the Germans.
The real action will take place in the Philippines, Japan, and Indonesia, and it’s the World Cup. Group play begins on Saturday in Manila, and the United States will face New Zealand, Greece, and Jordan as the big betting favorite.