Kobe Bryant spent the first part of his 30th birthday on the bench.
No matter. Thanks to Michael Redd, Bryant wasn’t missed.
Redd came off the bench with a flurry of 3-pointers to turn the game into an early rout, and the United States beat the U.S. Virgin Islands 123-59 on Thursday night in the FIBA Americas tournament in Las Vegas.
Redd and Carmelo Anthony each scored 22 points for the Americans (2-0), who put together a dominant stretch immediately after Bryant went to the bench with his second foul less than four minutes into the game.
Mike Miller and Amare Stoudemire added 13 points apiece for the Americans, who shot 15-of-30 from 3-point range and had all 12 players score.
The Americans are off today before closing pool play with games Saturday against Canada and Sunday against Brazil.
Kevin Sheppard scored 11 points for the Virgin Islands, whose best player can’t play for them. Tim Duncan started playing internationally for the United States in 1996, and once that happened the St. Croix native became ineligible to play for his home team.
The Americans scored only 21 points in the first quarter of their tournament opener, but needed only five minutes to reach that total Thursday.
