In the first real well-rounded effort for the United States in the circuit of pre-Olympic exhibition games, the Chicago Bulls star shooting guard Zach LaVine had a bright spotlight on him. Team USA faced a rebuilding Argentina squad in Las Vegas on the evening of July 13, hoping to rebound from one of the worst stretch of international matches in modern history for the United States men’s basketball program.
LaVine and the United States worked past Argentina without much of an issue. It was a solid effort for this team for all four quarters, leading to their first win in this exhibition circuit by the final score of 108-80. Considering there were some real fears that the United States could lose three games in a row, this was a solid showing on July 13.
Team USA carried this game pretty much the entire way. Even with running some of the Team USA Select squad players in the rotation in the fourth quarter, this team held a comfortable lead to win by a margin of 28 points when it was all said and done.
It was some familiar faces that came up big for Team USA in this win over Argentina. The first-time NBA All-Star selection LaVine was one of Team USA’s leading scorers in this one. He registered 15 points, five rebounds, three assists, one steal, no blocks, and one turnover. LaVine shot 5-of-8 from the field, 1-of-2 from beyond the arc, and 4-of-5 from the free-throw line.
Team USA gets win over Argentina as Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine has highlight-reel dunk
The highlighting play for LaVine in this game, and maybe the most exciting moment in general, came when he dunked all over an Argentine big man. These were two of LaVine’s 15 points on the evening.
Don't jump with @ZachLaVine 🤯 pic.twitter.com/lqXMdkGxJQ
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 13, 2021
In general, this was a good response from Team USA. And it comes ahead of a big opportunity for an exhibition rematch against Australia later this week. In the few games remaining for Team USA before the start of the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, later this month, this momentum needs to be parlayed to build up some real confidence.
Two other strong performances came in this game for the United States from the Brooklyn Nets superstar forward Kevin Durant and Washington Wizards star shooting guard Bradley Beal. Both KD and Beal registered 17 points and six rebounds in this win over Argentina.
LaVine and the United States will next take part in exhibition action ahead of the Olympics in Tokyo on July 16, at 5 p.m. CT in Las Vegas. The record for Team USA in exhibition action is now 1-2 following losses to Nigeria and Australia and this win over Argentina.