Russia broke clear of the Oceania champions in the third quarter with Tall Blacks stars Kirk Penney (21 points) and Mika Vukona on the bench with four fouls. Led by the superb Andrey Vorontsevich (18 points, 7/8 fg, 11 rebounds), Russia peeled off a 13-0 run late in the third quarter to break open what had been an arm wrestle.
Russia out-rebounded New Zealand 31-15 after quarter time, while the Tall Blacks made just 5/24 from three point range, missing repeated open looks. Timofey Mozgov (14 points, 7 rebounds) was strong inside for Russia, while Thomas Abercrombie (13 points, 4 rebounds) was tireless in his team’s loss.
New Zealand started quickly, leading, 9-2 after less than four minutes. But a number of missed open shots left the door open for Russia and they gained the ascendency if the half court grind, four straight points from Dmitriy Khvostov levelling the scores at 11-11.New Zealand finished the half strong behind Abercrombie, and when he scored their first eight points of the second half the Tall Blacks closed to 38-35. But first Penney and then Vukona picked up their fourth fouls and Russia took full advantage.
Quotes:
New Zealand's Thomas Abercrombie: "We didn't play the way we wanted to, Russia really dominated us on the rebounding stats tonight. Full credit to Russia, they outplayed us tonight and they deserved to win. Kirk and Mika are keys parts of our team, and having them in foul trouble really hurt us. I dont know where those offensive foul calls came from, but that is basketball and you have to move on. As a whole I think this tournament has been a real positive for us, we got some great scalps down in Izmir, we got three wins which we are really happy with. We did pretty well but we would have liked to get to that quarter final."
Russia's Andrey Vorontsevich: "We did a great job on defense tonight. We were facing the best shooting team behind USA in the competition and we limited them to 56 points. We just stopped their offense. We don't have any NBA stars in the team but we play as a team and we showed a lot of heart."
New Zealand coach Nenad Vucinic: "Congratulations to coach Blatt and the Russian national team for a great performance. We were not happy with the way we played today. Offensively, things we usually do well we didnt do well. We really wanted this game so badly, we wanted it a little bit too much and we burned out. We wanted this win for Pero (Cameron) and Phill (Jones) who have retired from international basketball. They have been the stalwarts of New Zealand basketball, and without them we could not possibly have achieved what we have.
We had three wins against tough opposition, and we are proud of what we have done."
Russia coach David Blatt: "Big congratulations to my players. They played a wonderful game in a pressure situation. We played a tremendous defensive game, we followed the game plan perfectly from a defensive standpoint. We held them to 56 when they usually score 85 a game, and that is no easy task against a well coached team that run offensive sets that a far more sophisticated than most teams here, and have a game-breaker like Kirk Penney. This team (New Zealand) is capable of beating almost anyone here, including us.
The guys deserve all the credit in the world for what they are doing. We have got great performances out of unknown players."
Bringing back memories of the 1992 Olympics and even the Beijing Games from two years ago when the Americans claimed big wins against the African champions, Mike Krzyzewski's USA played for the first time since their big Group B win over Tunisia on Thursday and claimed a 121-66 victory to stay unbeaten in the FIBA World Championship.
Unlike their African brothers Tunisia, who only trailed 39-33 at half-time against Team USA, Angola never mounted a serious challenge.
The Americans had a stranglehold on the contest by the end of the first quarter.
Everything unraveled quickly for Angola, who only trailed 12-7 after a three-ball from Angola's Joaquim Gomes.
The tournament favorites replied with a Kevin Durant lay-up that sparked a 10-0 run.
Chauncey Billups, who led the USA with 19 points, hit one of his five three-pointers in that run while Durant also stopped and popped from long range to make it 22-7.
Gomes, who had a game-high 21 points, stopped the rot for Angola with a jumpshot but the Americans quickly got into transition and Odom scored at the other end to make it 24-9.
By the end of the frame, the lead was 20 and the advantage ballooned to 65-38 by half-time.
Roberto Fortes did come off the bench to provide Angola fans with a few thrills, hitting all three of his three-pointers before the break.
The USA got back-to-back shots from the arc by Derrick Rose to start the second half and pulled away for a decisive victory.
While the Angolans stayed on the court to receive good-bye applause from the crowd since their tournament was over, the Americans left the court in a good mood.
Durant and Gay even playfully slapped Mascat – the mascot of the FIBA World Championship – in the head before running to the locker room.
Far more serious and exiting times await the USA, who will face either Russia or New Zealand in the Quarter-Finals.
QUOTES
Angola head coach Luis Magalhaes : "We played against a great team, great players, great coach, great organization. It was a very strong team for us and we could have done a little bit better but my players tried their best."
USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski : "We have great respect for Angola. I coached against them at the Olympics and they played us a great game. We showed some of that game to my players and they responded. We were very unselfish, we had 30 assists. We stayed aggressive for the whole game. The couple of days of practice really helped us. We played like we practiced which is the best a coach can ask for."
Angola’s Joaquim Gomes : "Angolan people should be proud of what we have done in this tournament. For us to play at the World Championship and compete against top teams is very important and I believe, with the exception of today's game, that we have done a good job, winning two games.
USA player Eric Gordon : "It was good for us to have a good win like this. it shows how hard we have been playing and we just get ready for the next one. (We wanted to be) really good on offense but really be tough on defense and that's what we did. We really got after it and created a lot of turnovers, we just wanted to have a good start.
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