Like their win over Lithuania on Friday, this one was a bit of a test. Russia used a zone defense and frequent substitutions to keep the pace slow. But the Americans showed that they could still win by 20-plus in a grind-it-out game, thanks to tough defense of their own and reigning NBA MVP, Kobe Bryant.

Bryant was clearly the fan favorite in Shanghai, receiving a huge ovation when he was introduced and hearing chants of "MVP! MVP!" when he shot free throws. And he did not disappoint the crowd, leading all scorers with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting and receiving Player of the Game honors.

The U.S. had 82 offensive possessions on Thursday against Turkey and 86 on Friday against Lithuania. They averaged 28.0 fast break points in the two games.

"If you take a look at past games," Andrei Kirilenko, who led Russia with 18 points and eight boards, said, "the most points they score are on the fast break."

But on Sunday, Kirilenko and his team executed their strategy of slowing the game down. The U.S. had just 74 offensive possessions and just 15 fast break points.

"The biggest thing was the tempo of the game," Jason Kidd said afterward, "how they tried to not let us run. Every time there was a dead ball, there was substitution so that we couldn't run."

"They did a good job of calling timeouts or substituting when there was a free throw," Carlos Boozer added. "Usually on a free throw, we get the ball and take off and run. They did a good job of offensive rebounding too."

Led by Kirilenko with four, Russia had 12 offensive boards and outrebounded the U.S. 33-29 overall. The U.S. bigs, Boozer, Dwight Howard and Chris Bosh, combined for just one rebound (from Howard) in 38 total minutes.

But on a day when the U.S. couldn't get out and run as much as they would like, they were able to get enough stops to keep Russia at bay.

"Defensively we continued to play great," LeBron James said. "And we're gonna give ourselves a chance to win every night if we continue to play defense like we've been playing."

They held Russia to 39.7 percent shooting for the game, including just 4-of-17 from downtown, and only allowed 20 points in a quarter once.

The defense wasn't perfect though. As was the case in Macao, they were a bit too aggressive on the perimeter, committing numerous fouls away from the basket. They were in the penalty early in both the third and fourth quarters as a result. And Russia did score on nine straight possessions early in the third, resulting in an 18-8 run that cut the U.S. lead from 20 to 10.

Fortunately for the U.S., Russia was only able to convert on 14 of their 22 free throw attempts (63.6 percent) for the game, and followed those nine straight scores with seven straight empty possessions to end the quarter. That stretch included four straight turnovers, a couple of them completely avoidable. Russian point guard J.R. Holden had one pass go straight out of bounds and another go off the rim.

So, thanks to some luck, some better D, and some hot shooting from Michael Redd, the U.S. finished the third on a 10-0 run to go back up 20 (and it never got below 16 in the fourth). Earlier in the third, Bryant had kept the lead from getting into single digits by scoring 11 straight U.S. points, much of it against the Russia zone.

Having the most refined offensive player in the world can erase a lot of issues you might be dealing with in the halfcourt.

"That's where he shined tonight," Redd said.

Otherwise, this game wasn't pretty. But good teams know how to win ugly. Just ask the Boston Celtics or the San Antonio Spurs, winners of the last two NBA championships.

With just one week before the U.S. Team's first game in Beijing and just three weeks before the gold medal game, these exhibitions in Macao and Shanghai are more about preparation than results. And this one could go a long way in preparing them for a similar game down the road.

"This was a great learning experience for us," Kidd said, "especially going against the zone and just the tempo of the game."

A learning experience that could pay off in three weeks.

John Schuhmann will be covering USA Basketball through the Beijing Olympics. Send him a question or comment.