The United States is in search of a 4-0 start in group play and will match up with a familiar Dominican Republic team on Wednesday.
There can be a lot of unfamiliar foes in international basketball, but that shouldn't be the case when the United States plays the Dominican Republic in the fourth game of the group stage of the 2014 FIBA World Cup. The game will come exactly two weeks after the teams faced off in Madison Square Garden in a pre-tournament exhibition.
The Dominican Republic wasn't much of an obstacle in that game. It hung around for the first few minutes and led 6-4 in the early going before the United States went on a 14-0 run to take the lead for good. Team USA led by double figures for most of the game, building a 22-point halftime lead. The second half was much of the same. The United States was too good and too deep. The lead grew to 45 points with the USA winning by 43, 105-62.
A familiar face will lead the Dominican Republic on Wednesday with Houston's Francisco Garcia the team's leading scorer. He scored 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting in the exhibition. He's fared better in group play and is averaging 21 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
Anthony Davis leads the way for the United States. He's averaging 19 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. He's been joined on the inside by Kenneth Faried, who is second on the team in scoring at 14.3 points and leads the team in rebounding at 8.3 per game. Neither put up big numbers in the first game. Playing limited minutes, the two combined for 11 points and nine rebounds.
A win would give the United States a 4-0 start and put it one win away from a perfect record in group play and a top seed heading into the Round of 16. Team USA will play Ukraine on Thursday to round out group play. Before looking ahead, the Americans will first need to take care of business against the Dominican Republic. It is 2-1 heading into the game against the USA and tied for second in Group C with five points.
The game will be the second-to-last of the day with tipoff scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Start time: 3:30 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN2
Location: Bilbao, Spain
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