ISTANBUL — The Americans survived their first tough test at the world basketball championships in Turkey, edging Brazil 70-68 on Monday when Leandro Barbosa‘s shot rattled out at the buzzer.
“This game right here was an eye opener,” guard Derrick Rose said.
Kevin Durant scored 27 points and Chauncey Billups added 15 for the Americans (3-0), who essentially clinched Group B with the victory. But they have bigger goals than a group championship, trying to end a 16-year U.S. drought in this event.
After the Americans trailed most of the first 2 1/2 quarters, Lamar Odom‘s dunk with 7:14 left put them ahead 64-62. But they couldn’t build on the lead during a tense final few minutes, and Brazil had two chances to send the game to overtime.
After a miss by Billups, Brazil got the ball and Marcelo Huertas was fouled on a drive to the basket with 3.5 seconds remaining. He missed the first free throw and then the second intentionally, tracking it down in the corner and firing it underneath to Barbosa, who lofted a shot over Kevin Love, only to have it bounce off the back and front of the rim.
Billups, the old man of the team at 33, had the Americans’ only basket in the final 6:50.
“I knew that in the first half that this was going to be a fourth-quarter game, a last two- or three-minute game, and I was preparing myself to just be ready,” Billups said.
Bradley to stay with U.S. Soccer
CHICAGO — U.S. Soccer announced it had agreed to a four-year extension with coach Bob Bradley, ending speculation he was seeking a job in Europe and that the federation wanted to start anew in the lead-up to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. Financial terms were not disclosed. He is 38-20-8 in four years.
• Major League Soccer and Adidas agreed to an eight-year sponsorship deal worth more than $200 million, replacing a 10-year, $150 million contract between the two organizations that started in 2005.
• Real Madrid winger Cristiano Ronaldo will be out three weeks after injuring his ankle in his team’s Spanish league opener.
Footnotes.
Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte, N.C., will host the PGA Championship in 2017.
• The Phoenix Coyotes re-signed right wing Lee Stempniak to a two-year contract. He had 14 goals and four assists in 18 games with the Coyotes last season after he was traded from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
• The New York Rangers agreed to terms with free-agent forward Tim Kennedy.
• Juan Manuel Lopez‘s featherweight title fight against Rafael Marquez has been rescheduled for Nov. 6 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
• Philippe Gilbert of Belgium pulled ahead in the overall standings in the Spanish Vuelta, using a strong surge to the finish line in Malaga, Spain, on a sweltering afternoon to win the hilly third stage.
• Former West Virginia star Da’Sean Butler, who was projected as a potential NBA lottery choice before tearing a ligament in his left knee during the Mountaineers’ Final Four loss to Duke, signed with the Miami Heat.
The Associated Press
