2023 FIBA World Cup

5 takeaways from USA’s win over Italy in World Cup quarterfinals

Team USA advances to the semifinals where they will face the winner of Wednesday's Germany vs. Latvia game on Friday.

Brian Martin, for NBA.com

Mikal Bridges (left) scored 24 points to power Team USA to a 100-63 victory over Italy & advance to the semifinals of the FIBA World Cup.

Team USA opened the Final Phase of the 2023 FIBA World Cup on Tuesday with a resounding 100-63 quarterfinal win over Italy to advance to Friday’s semifinals where they will face the winner of Wednesday’s game between Germany and Latvia.

Mikal Bridges (24 points) and Tyrese Haliburton (18 points) led the way as the Americans bounced back from their loss to Lithuania in the group phase on Sunday. This marks the 14th time overall that the United States’ advances to the semifinals and the fourth time in the past five World Cups.

Here are five key takeaways from Tuesday’s game and what it means moving forward in the tournament.

1. USA avoids another slow start

Slow starts have been a recurring theme for the Americans throughout the World Cup. USA has faced double-digit deficits in three of their first five games of the tournament, including a 21-point hole against Lithuania in their loss on Sunday.

With a spot in the semifinals on the line, the Americans knew they had to come out strong and land the first punch rather than suffering the first knockdown. And they did just that, jumping out to a 24-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.

But more early foul trouble for starting center Jaren Jackson Jr, who picked up two fouls in the first 2:14 of game time, forced coach Steve Kerr to make some adjustments. Jackson Jr. was replaced by Paolo Banchero as the Americans went with a smaller lineup.

Unlike Lithuania, the Italians did not have a massive size advantage over the USA so Jackson’s absence did not lead to the same mismatches that the Americans faced on Sunday.

The teams played nearly even with Team USA starters on the court, but when Banchero was joined by the rest of the second unit – Haliburton, Austin Reaves, Brandon Ingram and Bobby Portis – USA outscored Italy 14-6 to build that double-digit lead.

2. Bridges leads the way

Let’s say you didn’t watch the game and heard that Anthony Edwards scored only three points. You might assume USA lost the matchup or been in a very close game. Edwards was coming off a 35-point game against Lithuania and led the team in scoring entering Tuesday’s game vs. Italy at 20.2 points per game.

That is where the depth of this USA roster comes into play.

Other countries could not survive their top offensive player scoring just three points in a knockout game. Consider this Wednesday’s quarterfinal between Canada and Slovenia; if either Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or Luka Doncic is held to three points, their team would be in massive trouble of being eliminated.

On Tuesday, it was Bridges that got caught fire in the first half and the Americans rode his hot hand as they build a commanding lead. Bridges had 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting in the first half as he beat the Italians with fast break layups, pull-up jumpers and catch-and-shoot 3-pointers.

Bridges didn’t cool off at halftime. He continued his hot streak in the third quarter, knocking down a 3-pointer in front of the Italy bench to push USA’s lead to 55-28. He made another big triple 30 seconds later. And 10 seconds after that, he stole the ball and scored a transition layup, plus the foul, to bring his tally up to 22 points with plenty of time left to play.

3. Haliburton powers strong bench effort

Haliburton returned to his 3-point shooting, no-look passing and joyful playmaking on Tuesday after scoring just three points in Sunday’s loss to Lithuania.

In 20 minutes of action, Haliburton stuffed the stat sheet as he finished with 18 points, six 3-pointers, four rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block. He showcased his ability to create easy buckets for his teammates early on while also knocking down an occasional 3-pointer.

In the fourth quarter, Haliburton didn’t get a foul call that he was looking for. As a result, he was told by the official to stop complaining to avoid a technical foul, and Haliburton responded with 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions in a span of 63 seconds to push USA to its biggest lead of 41 points with just over six minutes to play in the game.

Austin Reaves also had a strong game off the bench, including an emphatic putback dunk near the end of the first half. With under a minute to play, Haliburton put up a step-back 3-pointer that missed, and Reaves came flying in from the left wing unchecked by any Italian defender and rose up for the two-handed dunk. The USA bench erupted as did the crowd in Manila as Reaves has been a fan favorite all tournament long.

Overall, the US bench finished with a 57-20 advantage over the Italian bench as the depth of the Team USA lineup was too much to overcome.

 

4. Defense shines with added pressure

After giving up 110 points in the loss to Lithuania, Team USA held Italy to just 63 points on Tuesday. Italy shot just 30.7% from the field for the game, including 16-37 (43.2%) on 2-point shots and 7-for-38 (18.4%) on 3-point shots. And Italy’s 3-point shooting was even worse for much of the game as they made just three of their first 27 attempts (11.1%).

Team USA utilized a half-court trapping defense that threw Italy’s motion offense out of sorts. Even when USA didn’t create steals with the added pressure, they got deflections and forced Italy to play against the shot clock, which helped keep Italy out of rhythm all game long.

In total, USA forced 19 turnovers and converted them into 25 points. They finished with a 30-13 edge in fast break points and an 11-3 edge in second-chance points after they had been dominated on the glass in their previous two games against Montenegro and Lithuania.

And while the Italians could not make a 3-pointer for much of the game, USA shot 17-for-36 (47.2%) from beyond the arc. The Americans entered the game averaging just 8.6 3-pointers made on 37% shooting.

5. Banchero with the play of the day

Paolo Banchero has dual citizenship in the United States and Italy and had a choice of which team he wanted to play for this summer. When he received the invite to join Team USA, the Seattle native jumped at the opportunity – following in his mother’s footsteps as she also played for Team USA. Italy had hoped the reigning NBA Kia Rookie of the Year would have played for them in the World Cup and let their displeasure with Banchero’s decision be known heading into the tournament and this game.

But Banchero didn’t have much to say about the situation entering Tuesday’s contest, and instead let his game speak for itself. He finished with eight points on 4-for-8 shooting, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block as he posted a plus-27 in a team-high 25 minutes on court.

His play of the day came at the end of the third quarter as Banchero and Haliburton trapped Italy’s Gabriele Procida at mid-court and forced a turnover. Haliburton got the steal and with Banchero and an empty backcourt to work with, he went between his legs and tossed up an alley-oop for Banchero, who threw down the emphatic dunk just before the third-quarter buzzer.

Haliburton and Banchero celebrated as they went back toward the USA bench with a 39-point lead. USA won the third quarter 37-20 to put any hopes of a comeback to sleep and put a semifinal date against either Germany of Latvia on the schedule.

 

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