:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/50320205/usa-today-9411845.0.jpg)
In an exhibition game a week and a half ago, Venezuela held the Team USA to just 80 points. It’s the only time this iteration of the ‘dream team’ has scored under 100, largely due to 16 percent shooting from beyond the three-point line. Team USA still cruised to victory, however, behind an efficient 13 points from Kyrie Irving, fantastic offensive rebounding and stifling defense. Team USA rebounded 56.8 percent of their misses, making up for a rare poor shooting night, and held the Venezuelan team to 10-40, 25 percent shooting inside the 3-point line.
Team USA is coming off a dominating 119-62 victory over China in the opening game of group play. Venezuela, meanwhile, was blown out by the Serbian team 86-62. This was a big blow to any hopes they had of making it out of Group A. The top four teams will advance to the quarterfinals, but it’s safe to say that the United States, Australia and France will take three of those spots simply due to the volume of NBA talent on those rosters. That leaves one spot for Serbia, Venezuela and China to fight over. After the loss on Saturday, Venezuela will have to pull an upset over one of the top three teams in the group in order to advance.
It likely won’t happen tonight. Team USA will simply overpower Venezuela, and if they have a good shooting night, it could be their biggest winning margin so far in 2016.
When: 6:00 p.m.
Where: Carioca Arena 1, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Broadcast: NBCSN
Online: NBCSN Online