USA Records 108-66 Win FIBA AmeriCup Qualifying Win over Puerto Rico

23 November 2024

USA 108, Puerto Rico 66

View the USA-Puerto Rico box score here.

The USA (2-1) opened the second window of 2025 FIBA Men’s AmeriCup Qualifying with a 108-66 with Puerto Rico (1-2 ) in Washington D.C. The Americans improve to 2-1 in 2025 FIBA AmeriCup Qualifying after going 1-1 in a home-home series with Cuba in February.

USA Basketball improved to 3-0 over Puerto Rico and 8-1 all-time in FIBA Men’s AmeriCup Qualifying. Puerto Rico will host the U.S. on Feb. 20, 2025, as part of the final 2025 qualifying window.

The U.S. host Bahamas at 7 p.m. ET on Monday, Nov. 25, at Entertainment & Sports Arena to close the second window. Bahamas (1-2) fell to Cuba 76-62 earlier tonight in Havana.

FIBA AmeriCup Qualifying consists of 16 teams distributed into four, four-team groups. Each team will play each opponent in their group twice, once at home and once away, during three windows which will take place in Feb. 19-27, 2024; Nov. 18-26, 2024; and Feb. 17-25, 2025. The top three teams in each group (12 in total) will qualify for the 2025 FIBA Men’s AmeriCup Aug. 23-31, 2025, in Managua, Nicaragua.

Court Commander: Head coach Stephen Silas made his USA Basketball coaching debut on Friday night. Silas has been an NBA coach (head and assistant) since 2000, working with six franchises over the last 2 ½ decades.

Silas is joined on the bench by two-time Olympic gold medalist Patrick Ewing, also making his USA Basketball coaching debut, and Keith Smart, who returned to the USA bench after serving as an assistant coach at the 1999 Pan American Games. Smart also earned a silver medal as a player at the 1987 Pan American Games.

Holding Court: Robert Covington, Frank Kaminsky, Javonte Smart, David Stockton and Paul Watson got the start in Friday night’s win.

All 12 players saw action in the contest with Covington, Kaminsky, Tony Snell, Watson and Malik Williams making their USA Basketball competitive debuts.

High-Ranking Half: The United States held a 46-35 lead going into the halftime locker room but maintained pressure on the Puerto Ricans to build a 29-point lead by the third quarter break and take a 78-49 advantage into the final 10 minutes. The final tally of 108-66 marked the USA’s largest AmeriCup Qualifying win (previously vs. BAH, 99-59, 11/29/20).

For the second time in AmeriCup Qualifying history, the United States scored 100+ points and tonight set a scoring record. The USA previously scored 100 vs. Cuba (79) on Feb. 22, 2024, is Kissimmee, Florida.

3-Point Supreme: The USA connected on 17-of-37 (.460) tries from 3-point range with six players hitting at least 2 3-pointers, including Ramsey (4), Covington (3) and Smart, Snell, Nate Hinton and Williams (2 each).

En Garde: In addition to taking care of and sharing the ball (7 turnovers, 28 assists), the USA locked down defensively, especially in the second half when the allowed just 31 points over 20 minutes. For the game, the U.S. held Puerto Rico to 36.5% shooting from the floor (23-63 FG) and 11.1% from 3-point (2-18 3FG).

Stately Smart: Smart, in his USA Basketball debut, tallied a game-best 20 points (7-9 FG, 2-4 3FG, 4-5 FT), 5 rebounds and 5 assists in 23 minutes. His total included 10 first half points on near-perfect shooting (4-5 FG, 1-2 3FG, 1-1 FT) along with 3 rebounds and 2 assists in 13 minutes. Smart is the fourth American to score 20+ points in AmeriCup Qualifying, including teammate Ramsey, who dropped 20 vs. Cuba (2/22/24).

Smart was one of four Americans with 10+ points including Ramsey (18), Covington (15) and Kaminsky (10).

Ramsey’s Realm: After averaging 17.0 points in two games in the February qualifying window, Ramsey added 18 tonight, including 13 in the second half, to continue to lead all USA players in FIBA AmeriCup Qualifying with a scoring average of 17.3 ppg.

Qualifying King: Stockton, playing his first AmeriCup Qualifying window, is a USA Basketball qualifying window stalwart having now played in a USA record 11 qualifying games. He played in three 2023 FIBA Men’s World Cup Qualifying windows (2021-23) and two leading up to 2019 FIBA World Cup (2017-19). He led the team with 10 assists in Friday’s win.