U.S. Wins FIBA World Championship

US wins FIBA World Championship 2010

Kevin Durant scored 28 points to lead the United States in routing host Turkey 81-64 in the final of the FIBA World Championship in Istanbul, its first title since 1994.

Durant, who was named tournament MVP, set a record for most number of points scored in the tournament by an American player.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski, who shared a hug with Durant on court side at the end of the game, won his first gold medal of the tournament after getting two bronze medals in past editions.

“Our only option was to come out here and get a gold, and it feels really good to bring this back home to the States,” Durant said.

NBA champion and Los Angeles Lakers forward Lamar Odom had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

With NBA superstars Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Dwyane Wade sitting out after their triumph in the Olympics, this team was called a “B-Team”, which the players were aware of and which fueled their drive.

“I think that was extra motivation,” Durant said. “It was exciting to come out here and win and also to prove people wrong.”

It was a close game in the first quarter, but the Americans started to pull away during the second quarter to quiet the huge crowd rooting for their home team.

“I thought we rallied and we became a little bit of an unconventional team,” Krzyzewski said. “We thought we could win, we just felt it would be a lot harder, and they worked real hard and they made it happen.”

Posted by Andre Monohan on Monday September 13 2010, 9:11 AM EDT. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0