NEW YORK (FIBA World Championship) - The United States picked up a couple of wins but dropped two players during a busy weekend in New York.
Mike Krzyzewski's team beat France 86-55 and China 98-51 in two impressive warm-up game displays, but there was bad news for both Jeff Green and JaVale McGee as they were cut from the team, which now stands at 13.

The weekend began as the game against China went entirely to plan with a one-sided rout.

Danny Granger scored 22 points as Krzyzewski's team raced past China with an outstanding display of speed.

A string of injuries has left the United States short on size, but it was apparent at Madison Square Garden that they will be more than capable of outrunning plenty of teams in Turkey.

They outscored China 32-4 on fast-break points to underline those credentials.

"We're the fastest team, I think, in the world, so we've got to use that to our advantage," Andre Iguodala said.

Playing in front of 2008 Olympic gold winner Kobe Bryant, Granger was the star of the show as he made nine of 12 shots from the field, including three three-pointers.

Kevin Durant scored 14 and Derrick Rose added 12 in strong showings.

But making a bigger impact was Eric Gordon.

With players still scrapping to avoid being one of the last three cuts to the squad, Gordon scored 15 points to strengthen his own case, while Green and McGee both got an early signal of what was to follow as they failed to get off the bench.

Washington Wizards forward Yi Jianlian led China with 13 points.

Sunday's game against France was a little more subdued, but Rudy Gay and veteran guard Chauncey Billups fired the United States to victory.

Gay had 19 points, while Billups hit five three-pointers to score 17 points in only 15 minutes of action.

"First time I've been in the Garden and the people have been cheering for me," the Denver Nuggets star said.

Kevin Durant added 14 points and eight rebounds for the United States, who did not get truly going until the second half, when they seized control with a 16-4 run.

"The second half I just thought we just settled down," Krzyzewski said. "You don't have to be perfect. Every shot you take doesn't have to go in."

Boris Diaw scored 15 points for France, who got moral support from Tony Parker, Ronny Turiaf and Joakim Noah in the stands.

Sunday's other game at the Garden saw Carlos Arroyo score 16 points to lead Puerto Rico to a 92-76 win over China.

Elias Ayuso and Peter John Ramos added 12 points each for Puerto Rico, while JJ Barea had 11 points and 10 assists.

Wang Shipeng had 20 points to lead China, who were hamstrung by an off night for Yi, who made only three of 15 shots for 11 points.

The United States' decision to cut McGee means Tyson Chandler will head to Turkey as the only true center on Krzyzewski's squad.

“It’s always difficult to have to pare down and make these decisions because each of these young men have given their time and energy to be part of USA Basketball,” said USA Basketball boss Jerry Colangelo.

“The decision made was predicated on having less players to work with and play during the upcoming exhibition games which will help in terms of our final preparations. So rather than bring 14 or 15 players we will for now go with 13 because we have yet to make a final determination on 12.”

The team will now travel to Spain ahead of warm-up games in Madrid and Athens before heading to Turkey.

FIBA

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