US easily wins first meeting with Iran
September 1, 2010
ISTANBUL (AP)—The United States eased its way to a top seed in theknockout round of the world championship, beating Iran 88-51 Wednesday in thefirst meeting between the countries with a history of contentious relations.
The U.S. team, which downplayed the political aspect of the matchup,methodically pulled away in the first half, wearing down the Asian championswith its depth and athleticism.
Kevin Love(notes) scored 13 points and Kevin Durant(notes) 12 for the Americans (4-0), whowill meet the fourth-place team from Group A in the round of 16.
After playing his starters for most of the second half of a 70-68 victoryover Brazil on Monday, U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski went to the bench early inthis one, with the Americans shooting 58 percent and scoring 23 points offturnovers in the easy victory.
Hamed Haddadi(notes) scored 19 points for Iran (1-3) and Arsalan Kazemi had 14.
The tensions between the nations’ governments provided the backdrop off thecourt, with a group of fans sitting near midcourt before the game holding U.S.and Iran flags and a sign reading “PEACE” in between.
The only sparring on the floor was a playful bump between Haddadi and U.S.forward Rudy Gay(notes), teammates with the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies.
The countries have feuded for decades and their relations have deterioratedin recent years, with the United States supporting sanctions against Iran forcontinuing with programs it believes could be used to create nuclear weapons.
The U.S. team tried to keep the focus on the floor, with Krzyzewski sayinghe had played in Iran in the 1970s with an Armed Forces team and had greatrespect for the country.
“We are just here to play basketball,” Durant said Monday. “The politicalsituation is something we cannot control. We have to go and just play the gameof basketball.”
There’s no rivalry on the basketball court, where the nations had never metin Olympic or world championship play. The Iranian national team even came toUtah two years ago at the invitation of the NBA to play in a summer league aspreparation for the 2008 Olympics.
And in a nod to the Iranian supporters in Istanbul—which included ministerof sports Ali Saeedlou earlier in the tournament—dancers were ordered to coverup for their performances during the game. Islam prohibits women from exposingtheir skin in public, and Iranian officials had turned their backs when thedancers performed in earlier games.
The dancers wore long pants Wednesday.
Iranian fans, many waving flags and chanting, had plenty to cheer early.Haddadi won the opening tip, Durant fired a pass behind Andre Iguodala(notes) and outof bounds on the Americans’ first possession, and the U.S. lead was only sixafter one quarter.
But the Americans quickly pushed it into double digits in the second andgradually extended it to 14 at halftime. They opened the second half withanother burst to push it past 20 and turn Group B’s second game of the nightinto a dull affair.
Following Thursday’s game against winless Tunisia, the Americans will havethree days off before playing Monday against an opponent still to be determined.But a difficult quarterfinal could follow, with Spain looming as a possibleopponent after two surprising losses have dropped the defending world championsinto third place in their group.
The Americans want to have their reserves playing well by then, and all 12players scored Wednesday. Derrick Rose(notes) had 11 points and Danny Granger(notes) added 10.
Its game time! Sign up for Fantasy Basketball 10 today!
