MANILA, Philippines — Anthony Edwards scored all 17 of his points in the second half, Austin Reaves delivered a timely 3 and Team USA survived over Montenegro 85-73 in a World Cup second-round game.
The Americans, likely headed to the quarterfinals next week regardless, play Lithuania at 8:40 a.m. ET on Sunday.
Reaves, who scored 12 in the game, knocked down a 3 with 2:48 left for a 75-68 advantage — USA’s largest lead to that point. Jaren Jackson Jr.’s skyhook with less than two minutes was crucial, too, and Mikal Bridges’ lay-in with 1:29 to go put this one out of reach.
Tyrese Haliburton added 10 points off the bench. Montenegro and Chicago Bulls star Nikola Vučević finished with 18 points and 16 rebounds. The boards stood out for him and his teammates; they crushed the Americans on the glass, 49-31. Montenegro left Mall of Asia Arena thinking what might have been if not for 22 turnovers.
Montenegro went to the locker room at halftime with a 38-37 lead on a light slam with two seconds left by Marco Simonovic. But the real reason the Americans trailed at half was their inability to shoot from deep or grab misses. They were 1-of-9 on 3s in the first half and were outrebounded, 28-17.
Edwards failed to score through two quarters and missed all five shots. Jackson didn’t play at all in the second quarter because of two fouls.
Edwards awoke in the third, banging home his first jumper at 9:25 and scored again on the ensuing possession. He finished the period with 10 points, and the Americans went to the fourth leading, 61-55.
This story will be updated.
(Photo of Anthony Edwards: Stephen Gosling / NBAE via Getty Images)