Las Vegas – After containing Leandro Barbosa, Kobe Bryant still had time to keep up with LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony.
James scored 21 points, Bryant added 20 and harassed Barbosa all over the court, and the United States clinched the top spot in its group by beating Brazil 113-76 on Sunday in the FIBA Americas tournament.
The Nuggets’ Anthony also scored 21 for the Americans (4-0), who for the second straight game pulled away by holding the opponent without a field goal for more than six minutes in the second quarter.
“When you see Kobe Bryant diving for loose balls,” USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo said, “and you see LeBron and Carmelo giving it the kind of work that they’re putting into this, that commitment and passion, that’s a message.”
The Americans improved to 30-0 in Olympic qualifying games and will open second- round play tonight against Mexico, the fourth-place finisher in Group A.
Bryant led the defensive effort that held Barbosa to just four points on 1-of-7 shooting.
“My role here is different here than it is with the Lakers,” Bryant said. “We have so many talented players and I don’t have to score a lot of points. I just try to do the best I can defensively.”
Barbosa entered averaging a tournament-best 27 points after scoring 36 on Saturday in a 93-89 victory over the U.S. Virgin Islands. But the Phoenix guard and NBA’s top sixth man never got into this game because of Bryant’s early defense, and was on the bench in foul trouble when the Americans broke open the game late in the second quarter.
“I knew that he was going to come up and defense me and guard me like he did and all I was trying to do was get the ball, but I didn’t have many balls in my hand,” Barbosa said.
James, Bryant and Anthony combined for the first 19 U.S. points in the second half, turning the game into another romp. The Americans came in having defeated opponents by 52.3 points per game.
Brazil trailed only 37-32 with 5:50 remaining in the half before Bryant scored the next three points and James followed with a basket for a 10- point lead.
