Damian Lillard of Team USA (right) goes up for a shot against Mohammadsina Vahedi of Team Iran.
Group A: USA 120, Iran 66
Team USA cruised past Team Iran to improve to 1-1 in Group A play. Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard led all scorers with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting from 3-point range. Every player on Team USA scored and five others joined Lillard in double figures.
Hamed Haddadi and Mohammad Jamshidijafarabadi both scored 14 points for Iran.
Precious Achiuwa of Team Nigeria (left) goes up for a shot against Danilo Barthel of Team Germany.
Group B: Germany 99, Nigeria 92
Germany secured its first win at the Tokyo Games with a 99-92 victory over Nigeria. Five German players scored in double figures, led by Johannes Voigtmann’s 19 points. Orlando Magic center Moritz Wagner added 17 points.
Germany improved to 1-1 in Group B play. Nigeria fell to 0-2.
Bucks forward Jordan Nwora led Nigeria with a game-high 33 points and 7 rebounds.
Patty Mills of Australia sets things up against Italy.
Group B: Australia 86, Italy 83
Australia held off Italy, 86-83 in a fantastic back-and-forth contest that went down to the wire.
San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills was brilliant again for the Aussies, scoring 16 points and racking up 5 assists. Forward Jock Landale was the team’s high scorer with 18 points.
Simone Fontecchio led Italy with 22 points. Golden State Warriors guard Nico Mannion added 21 points and 7 assists.
Italy lost despite shooting 50% from the field as a team (33-for-66).
Australia moved to 2-0 in Group B play, while the Italians fell to 1-1. The Aussies will next face Germany on July 31, while Italy will take on Nigeria.
Nicolas Batum flies in for the slam against the Czech Republic.
Group A: France 97, Czech Republic 77
France cruised past the Czech Republic, 97-77, to stay unbeaten atop Group A after opening the competition with a win over the United States.
Celtics forward Evan Fournier was electric again for France, putting up a team-high 21 points. Former Spurs and Raptors guard Nando De Colo put up 17.
Chicago Bulls guard Tomas Satoransky scored 14 for the Czech Republic.
The Czechs led this game, 28-22, after the first quarter, but France kicked it into high gear after that. The French outscored the Czech Republic 29-12 in the second and 75-49 overall in the final three quarters.
France moves to 2-0 in Group A, and will next face Iran on July 30. Czech Republic will take on the U.S. on July 31.
