USA/BRA - Defense, LeBron carry Americans to victory

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Olympics) - One day after another, international basketball is taking center stage.

On Sunday in Paris, Spain played in front of a 15,000-strong crowd at Bercy and beat France while on Monday night, the United States went toe to toe with Brazil at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.

The common denominator is that all four teams will be at the London Games.

Everyone is interested, including United States President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

Both were in the sellout crowd of 20,390 on Monday and after the game, the President went to the changing room to meet with the USA squad.

“It was an honor to have him in the locker room," USA coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

Team USA, thanks to their relentless effort on defense, overcame a bad shooting night and defeated the Brazilians, 80-69.

Brazil trailed by just six points with six minutes remaining but LeBron James then steered the Americans home.

After a free-throw by the USA’s Carmelo Anthony and a basket from Deron Williams, James poured in the team’s last seven points, including a three-ball and a steal converted into another shot from the arc.

His two free throws with 31.3 seconds remaining were the final points of the game.

Many of the players were in the two teams that met at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Istanbul, a Preliminary Round game won by the United States, 70-68.

James, who helped fire the Americans to gold at the 2008 Olympics, wasn't in the world-title winning side in Turkey.

Miami Heat star James, the NBA's MVP this season, led all scorers on Monday with 30 points on 11 of 20 shooting from the floor.

As a team, though, the USA made 29 of 71 (40.8%) shots from the field.

Most importantly, the Americans came up with 19 steals, including four each for James and Paul and three apiece for Tyson Chandler and Russell Westbrook.

Chandler was the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year.

Andre Iguodala didn't have a steal, yet contributed to the sterling defensive effort of the United States.

"I felt our defense won the game," Krzyzewski said.

"I thought it was outstanding for three quarters, especially since we didn't hit shots and we missed a lot of dunks. 

"I liked the mental toughness of our team. 

"We kept reminding them we're not doing it on offense, don't let it affect defense.

"I thought it didn't."

Brazil's Marcelo Huertas had a terrific game against the United States in Turkey and he excelled again on Monday.

The Barcelona playmaker had 13 assists to go with his 11 points and five rebounds.

"The game was very physical, perhaps even more than will be allowed at the Olympics," Huertas said.

"The refereeing allowed a lot of contact but we anticipated that.

"It was a good game overall, except for the second quarter when we lost a lot of balls and were anxious to hit them on the fast break."

"Huertas as a guard played great against us in Istanbul, and he's even better right now,” Krzyzewski said. 

"He's just a terrific guard."

Krzyzewski believes Brazil are going to have a good team at the Olympics and not just because of the guard play.

"That rotation of three bigs is huge - Nene, (Tiago) Splitter and (Anderson) Varejao," Krzyzewski said.

All three play in the NBA. Nene is with the Washington Wizards, Splitter with San Antonio and Anderson with Cleveland.

"And when they bring (Guilherme) Giovannoni to spread you, they're tough to defend," Krzyzewski said.

Anderson had 12 points and 13 rebounds while Alex Garcia led Brazil with 14 points.

The USA continue their preparations 17-18 July in Manchester, England, and on 19 July will play Great Britain at the Manchester Arena.

On Tuesday, the Brazilians fly to Strasbourg, France, where they will take on Australia and the French in warm-up games.

FIBA