ONE of the favourites for the 2023 FIBA World Cup has claimed its first win of the tournament, with the United States delivering an emphatic win over New Zealand on Saturday night.

The World Cup action continued for a second night, as many sides impressed on the big stage in their first game of the fixture. Many of the games went as expected, including Team USA proving too good for the Tall Blacks.

With a stacked roster and a winning culture, the United States have been touted as a heavyweight side for the 2023 tournament, and justified those claims with a damaging performance in their first group match against New Zealand.

The first quarter saw the United States create some good looks, but were unable to knock down as many as they could have. Down the other end, the Tall Blacks were pushing the pace and keeping up with the opposition on the scoreboard, trailing by just one point at the first break.

However, Team USA kept their rhythm going into the second, and improved on the defensive end, making life extremely difficult for New Zealand. Some excellent one-on-one guarding from almost every player on the court saw the United States extend their lead out to nine at the main change.

Team USA hit their straps in the third quarter, exploding offensively from a number of sources and finding holes in the New Zealand defence. The Tall Blacks tried valiantly to match this output down the other end, but the United States simply had too many options to score the ball, steadily turning the match into a blowout.

Both sides slowed down a bit in the fourth quarter, as New Zealand ran out of gas and Team USA began to take the foot off the pedal a bit. However, the result remained the same, as the United States cruised home to a huge 27-point win.

Last season’s NBA Rookie of the Year Paolo Banchero was the star of the show, coming off the bench to be the best player on the court. In just under 19 minutes of action, the young gun delivered a game-high 22 points on 8/10 shooting. He initiated the offence from the defensive rebound, often storming away in transition to slice holes in New Zealand’s structure.

Former NBL talent Reuben Te Rangi top-scored for the Tall Blacks, constantly looking to spark the team’s offence with 15 points on 6/16 shooting from the field.

In other results for the day, Puerto Rico held on for a thrilling five-point win over South Sudan, while Georgia delivered a blowout win over Cape Verde in the second of the early games. Greece was 21 points too strong for Jordan, while Brazil delivered one of the biggest wins of the tournament to date, downing Iran by 41 points.

A haul of 37 points, seven rebounds and six assists from Luka Doncic drove Slovenia past Venezuela to the tune of 15 points, while Serbia blew out China, and Spain produced a 30-point win over Cote d’Ivoire.