By Sportswriter Shan Lei and Jia Wenjun
GUANGZHOU, South China, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Lebrone
James scored 22 points to lead the U.S. team to a 119-73 crash over the depleted
Chinese team 119-73 here on Monday.
The Cleveland Caveliers' guard also had six rebounds
in 17 minutes while Carmelo anthony had 18 points in 18 minutes.
China played without pivot Yao Ming, who joined the
team for training on August 1 after foot surgery during the off season, or
forward Wang Zhizhi, who injured his knee in a warm-up against France two weeks
ago.
(Click for larger view! photo source: Xinhua)
Yao and Wang are the two Chinese who have NBA
experiences and the undoubted leaders of the Chinese team. The two has never
played together in the national team since it was formed up in June.
Forward Du Feng led China with 18 points while center
Yi Jianlian had 14 points and nine rebounds.
"No. 11 (Yi) impressed me a lot," said Antawn
Jamaison. "The Chinese played hard and some good basketball. They've got
improvement."
"I'm not thinking about winning the world
championships in Japan, or even the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I just want to win
every game and do my best," said James.
It was China who took the opening lead at 3-0 but the
Americans used a 11-0 run to overtake and never trailed after that.
Yi powered inside the key to keep China into the game
when the U.S. led 24-19 in the first quarter.
James stepped up in the second quarter to herald the
Americans to 36 points in 10 minutes to built up a 60-37 lead before the break.
China, who never beat the U.S. at internationals, had
34 turnovers and let out 21 steals to the much faster and stronger Americans
when clapsed in the second half.
China and the U.S. are bracketed into the same group
for the World Championships, which will start on August 19 in Japan. Enditem