The United States does not allow itself to be surprised by Chile in the qualifier for the Qatar World Cup
The United States basketball team defeated Chile 89-71 this Thursday in Santiagoin the second round of the Americas qualifying tournament for the FIBA Basketball World Cup Qatar 2027.
After the game at the Parque Estadio Nacional Sports Center, the United States leads Group E with 6 wins, one loss and 13 points, while Chile occupies fifth place with 2 wins, 5 losses and 9 points.
Chile surprised the United States from the startwhich took several minutes to come into play, but managed to turn around quickly to lead the score 23-8 at the end of the first quarter against a local quintet that began to have problems completing its goals.
The North Americans relied on a collective effort to accumulate points and converted from three, which maintained the advantage against the Chilean team in the second period that ended 44-28.
AS Monaco power forward Jaron Blossomgame led this stretch with the triples of forwards Kevon Harris and James Nunnally of AEK Athens, which added up to an effectiveness of over 50% until the second quarter.
Chile combined Sebastián Suárez, Paris Basketball guard Sebastián Herrera and point guard Franco Morales of the Colombian Motilones to score 20 points in the period, but they were ineffective in three-pointers, losing conversion opportunities.
In the third period, the Chilean team fought to prevent the Americans from escaping, after they managed to overcome the barrier of 20 points difference, with Herrera adding eight points with two triples included, to close with the score down 68-51.
The Chilean team did not give up, but their problems in shooting took their toll with 38% in field goals, converting 31 in 81 attempts, in addition to persistence in three-point shots, hitting 7 in 37 times they tried.
The United States closed the final period with a score of 89-71, in which former NBA Cole Swider, now with Anadolu Efes in Turkey, scored eight goals and ended up being the best on the team.
The power forward was the highest scorer of the game with 19 points, 8 rebounds with a conversion rate of over 60% on field goals and 4 triples in five attempts.
For the Chileans, Herrera scored 18 points, being the top scorer, although Fabián Martínez had the best performance in shooting with 66% from the field, well above the rest of the team.
Chile will visit the Dominican Republic on Monday, August 31, while the United States will host Colombia on the same day.
