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Faried helps Team USA get off to fast start at 2014 FIBA World Cup

In the first 90 seconds of Team USA’s opening game of the 2014 FIBA World Cup, Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried scored four quick points.

That was two more than Finland managed in the entire second quarter.

Faried scored six points on 3-for-3 shooting and added six rebounds as the U.S. Men’s National Team rolled past Finland 114-55 in Bilbao, Spain on Saturday.

The Manimal played just 15 minutes as coach Mike Krzyzewski used all 12 players on the roster. The distribution of minutes was important as the U.S. began a stretch of five games in six days in Group C pool play.

Just as he did in four exhibition games, Faried started at power forward. He was joined by guards Stephen Curry and Kyrie Irving, small forward James Harden and center Anthony Davis.

"We just got after it," Faried said. "We played together as a team, and we wanted to win this game. We wanted to come out and make a statement basically and tell the World Cup that the USA is for real, and even though we’re the youngest team in here, we’re going to play together and get after it."

The Americans jumped out to a 15-point lead after the first quarter and pushed the advantage to 42 by halftime. Finland went 0-for-17 from the field in the second quarter, scoring its only two points from the free throw line.

Led by Klay Thompson’s 18 points, every U.S. player scored at least four points.

Team USA continues group play Sunday against Turkey at 1:30 p.m. MT. The game will be televised on ESPN.