Spain shows its cards and the United States shows its teeth

The Spanish basketball team closed its preparation for the Tokyo Games with a scoring defeat against the United States in Las Vegas (76-83).

Scariolo's team tutored their rival for 25 minutes with the baton and the success of Ricky Rubio (23 points) and then was surpassed by the scoring production of Damian Lillard, Keldon Johnson and Kevin Durant.

Between filming and competitive pride, Spain showed their cards in the first half and the

USA Team

the teeth in the second. In one week the Olympic challenge begins. After the game, the coach defined the list of 12 players for the tournament, which will finally be Juancho Hernangómez after medical examinations concluded that his injured shoulder is fully recoverable for the appointment. Darío Brizuela, López Aróstegui and Pierre Oriola were the last discards.

Scariolo's team will debut at the Games on Monday 26 (at 2:00 p.m. Spanish time) against the host Japan, and then they will face two of their recent enemies in the fight for the medals in a demanding first phase: Argentina, led by Campazzo, (Thursday 29 at 2:00 p.m.), which they defeated in the 2019 World Cup final; and Doncic's Slovenia (Sunday, August 1 at 10.20 am), against which they fell in the semifinals of the 2017 European Championship. The first two teams in each group and the two best third parties will qualify directly for the final phase and the fight for the medals. Slovenes and Argentines are fifth and eighth respectively in the striking ranking of favorites published by FIBA, where Spain appears in second position behind Australia and ahead of the United States.Popovich's team's defeats against Nigeria and Australia in preparation lowered their uncompromising status, but against the Spanish team they demonstrated their inexhaustible potential.

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Scariolo formed with Ricky, Rudy, Abalde, Claver and Marc Gasol in the starting five against Lillard, LaVine, Tatum, Durant and Green. And Spain launched itself, applied, to measure itself against the

American

athleticism

, always trying to attack with criteria, select the shots well and take care of the ball in the face of rival pressure, so as not to feed the intrepid game in transition of the

NBA

. Once the adjustments and the first impression were overcome, the national team showed its cache and successfully transformed 3-9 in minute four into 18-12 just five later, with four points and four rebounds from Garuba in that stretch, in a vigorous rotation (without Llull by rest) which was also strongly joined by Sergio Rodríguez, Abrines and Pau Gasol (8 points, five rebounds and two assists in 16m 54s).

As the minutes passed, the

USA Team

showed some sewing in front of a union and committed Spain. Marc Gasol raised the rent to +9 (27-18, m. 15), with Rudy tuning from the perimeter and Abalde drying Lillard at times. And, again to the tune of Ricky Rubio (14 points in 12 minutes in the first half), the team competed without complexes in Las Vegas. Only a flurry of triples unleashed the weak American attack, which with the passage to the front of Durant (11 points at halftime) concealed the imbalances of a team doomed to rebuild on the fly (38-36, m. 20).

The confirmed loss of Bradley Beal - replaced by Keldon Johnson after entering the anticovid protocol of the Games - and the quarantine of Jerami Grant, even without ruling out, was joined by the injury of Kevin Love, who left the concentration after 10 days of attempts unsuccessful to get ready after his tortuous season and was replaced by

JaVale McGee.

But, in addition, Popovich maintains the uncertainty for three other players: Devin Booker, Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton, who are contesting the NBA final (3-2 for

Milwaukee Bucks vs. Phoenix Suns). In the event that the title is resolved in the seventh game, it would be played on the 22nd, a day before the opening ceremony in Tokyo and with just three days to spare from the debut of the American team, on Sunday the 25th. motivate any resignation. Meanwhile, the

USA Team

was, in the first half, the sum of outbursts of Lillard and Durant against a choral Spain led and protected by Ricky.

However, late in the third quarter, the team lost the initial success and faltered in the order before the rival's defensive twist. In a much more intense version, the US unleashed hand and foot. A triple from Llillard, a mate from Johnson and another bingo from LaVine from the perimeter straightened Popovich's team and definitively turned the score around (46-53, m. 28). The succession of failures by Spain allowed the American counterattacks and the third round closed with a 12-21 partial. A free throw from Marc and a triple from Chacho were the team's only scoring production in the last 5m 30s of the quarter. The US ran and tuned to avoid shocks. Lilliard (19 points) and Johnson (15) attended Durant's bugle call. Nothing altered Scariolo's rotation,that followed the planned road map without squeezing resources or forcing the persecution. "In the second half they raised the bar and we went down roads that we should not go and we thought about arriving at the Games healthy," said Ricky.

"We are not bad, but we can improve in everything," added Scariolo in his analysis.

The good minutes of Willy Hernangómez (11 points and three rebounds in less than 12 minutes) completed the

coach's

notepad

in a preparation with four wins and one loss.

Next stop, Tokyo.

The statistics of the match.

Spain, 76-United States, 83.

# Olympic Games🏀 # Tokyo2020

from July 25 to August 7

Group A

🇺🇸EEUU

🇫🇷France

🇮🇷Iran

🇨🇿Rep.

Czech

Group B

🇦🇺Australia

🇩🇪Germany

🇮🇹Italy

🇳🇬Nigeria

Group C

🇪🇸Spain

🇦🇷Argentina

🇸🇮Slovenia

🇯🇵Japan pic.twitter.com/I4B1npzrRQ

- Faustino Sáez (@faust_saez) July 5, 2021

Juancho Hernangómez will be at the Games;

Brizuela, López Aróstegui and Oriola, last discards

After the last preparation match, Sergio Scariolo defined the final squad of 12 players for the Olympic event. Juancho Hernangómez, injured 10 days ago in the friendly against France in Malaga after a collision in a blockade with center Moustapha Fall, was the great unknown to clear and, finally, he will be on the list. With a "grade 4-5 acromioclavicular dislocation in the left shoulder," according to the medical report, Juancho was ruled out for Tokyo, but the outlook became less drastic as the days passed. "The feelings are good, but they are temporary because he has not yet trained with contact," explained Scariolo before the game against the USA. "He is progressing well and the collaboration of the Timberwolves has been unbeatable. They have had a really weird attitude in a situation like this.And the player is trying his best to be. Now we hope that the professionals, doctors and physiotherapists, tell us what the final decision will be ”, announced the coach. The latest examinations concluded that Juancho's shoulder is fully recoverable for the Games.

Scariolo's call had, from the beginning, 10 fixed players defined almost in two quintets: Ricky, Rudy, Juancho, Claver and Marc Gasol;

Chacho, Llull, Abrines, Willy Hernángómez and Pau Gasol.

The distribution of minutes and roles in the preparation showed that Abalde and Garuba also had a guaranteed place.

Sebas Saiz and Sergi Martínez were the first discards and Alocén was left out after being in close contact with a positive for covid.

So, if Juancho finally failed, the last place on the list would have been disputed by Brizuela and Oriola.

But medical examinations ruled that Juancho, a key player in the conquest of the 2019 World Cup, may be in Tokyo.

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