San Antonio Spurs guards Derrick White and Patty Mills helped their national teams advance to the quarter-finals at the 2019 FIBA World Cup Saturday, after White, Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich and Team USA defeated Greece 69-53. Mills and Australia had an 82-76 win over the Dominican Republic.
White, Popovich and Team USA move on to quarter-finals after win over Greece
The Americans faced a familiar opponent in the current NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and Greece Saturday, and though the game was close for most of the time, Team USA started to pull away in the second half as their defensive strategy of having multiple defenders around Giannis and forcing Greece’s role players to beat them worked out. White had one of his most efficient scoring games so far in the World Cup, as he ended the day with nine points (4/6 shooting), two turnovers, one assist, and one rebound in 14 minutes of play.
At one point in the second half, White was Team USA’s second leading scorer. He ended up finishing the game tied for the third leading scorer. Now that Team USA has already earned a spot in the quarter-finals, they’ll have one last second round game Monday against Brazil at 7:30 AM CT.
Mills, Australia defeat the Dominican Republic and advance to quarter-finals
As he’s been doing at the World Cup, Mills once again led Australia in scoring, finishing with 19 points (6/12 shooting), nine assists, four rebounds, four turnovers, and two steals in 30 minutes of action. Australia too has advanced to the quarter-finals and their final second round game will take place Monday against France.
