Paul George’s 20 Points Leads Team USA to a 113-69 Victory Over Venezuela

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In their second preliminary matchup of the 2016 Olympics, Team USA found a way to overcome an extremely slow start, with too many turnovers, en route to a 44-point win.

There were five ties through the game’s first quarter, with an 18-18 tie after one. Venezuela was very successful in slowing the Americans scorching hot pace. Kobe Bryant‘s 35-year-old cousin, John Cox, scored 7 of Venezuela’s first 9 points and helped to establish a halfcourt, foul-and-turnover-filled first 15 minutes. At one point, the Americans had 9 field goals, 8 turnovers and 7 assists.

With his squad up 28-22, Carmelo Anthony stripped Venezuelan big man Gregory Echenique and hit a big three-ball in transition to start to break the game open. Anthony and Kevin Durant took care of the scoring in the first half–11 and 10 points for each of them–while Jimmy Butler and DeAndre Jordan injected some much needed energy into the Americans. They were a major reason the Americans outscored the Venezuelans 30-8 in the second quarter.

Paul George scored 12 of his 20 points in the second half. He got buckets in bunches and provided the exclamation point with a big dunk in the closing moments of the fourth.

Meet @Yg_Trece at the rim!!! https://t.co/ku67HjyZxf

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) August 8, 2016

Cox led Venezuela in scoring with 19. Team USA finished with 24 assists and 11 turnovers. At the start of the third, they stopped settling for jumpers and began bulldozing their way to the rim. With the lead in the high 30s in the fourth, Coach Mike Krzyzewski experimented with a small lineup of George, Butler, DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry and Harrison Barnes, which could be something to keep an eye on.

George and the Americans are back in action on Wednesday night, at 6 EST, against Australia.

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Is This Paul George’s Signature Sneaker?

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Paul George’s arrival as a superstar was clear as day when he got the cover of NBA 2K17. His new status crystalized even more with reports of the huge payday coming his way. The only thing left for Paul George to do was get a signature sneaker, which could be happening soon.

All indications are that the sneaker in the photo up top could be the All-Star’s very first silhouette.

Check out the flywire in the midfoot, a staple of recent Nike sneakers. The strap, which has been seen in the KD 7, Kyrie 2 and Soldier X recently, is also a modern Nike favorite. And of course PG’s logo on the tongue is also a pretty big clue.

Reports suggest these could be ready for retail by March 2017, if this is actually the PG1. Keep it locked for official confirmation on release dates and pricing.

h/t Sneaker Files

The post Is This Paul George’s Signature Sneaker? appeared first on SLAMonline.

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