A’ja Wilson scored 20 points and Breanna Stewart added 15 to help the US beat Japan 86-69 on Friday in the women’s basketball tournament.
The US have now won 51 consecutive games dating back to the bronze medal game in the 1992 Olympics, although the team has looked far from sharp in its first two games at the Saitama Super Arena.
“I feel like we’ve been telling you guys for years that we’re making it look easy, something that’s really hard,” said Sue Bird. “Now what you’re seeing is, we told you so, it is hard. That’s not to say we’re not headed in the right direction.”
It was a matchup of contrasting styles. The US had its dominant group of bigs led by the 6ft 9in Brittney Griner. Japan’s tallest player is only 6ft 1in. The host nation, which is the only team in the field to have beaten the US in an Olympic contest back in 1976, played a more free-flowing style with all five players capable of shooting three-pointers.
Despite the size disadvantage, Japan was able to consistently beat the Americans off the dribble, get to the basket and score early on. When the Japanese team weren’t getting by the US, they were connecting on threes. The team hit six in the opening period and led 30-28 after one quarter.
The US (2-0) then clamped down defensively over the next 10 minutes. With the game tied at 36, the Americans scored scored seven straight to start a 13-4 run to close the half. Griner had six points during the spurt and Stewart had a massive block after a US turnover.
The Americans led 49-40 at the break.
Japan cut the deficit to five in the third quarter but couldn’t get any closer as Wilson, Stewart and Griner dominated inside. The trio combined for 50 points and 28 rebounds.
“We knew they get a lot of 3s, we weathered the storm and tried to get them to make more 2s,” said Griner, who had 15 points. “We definitely had a size advantage so wanted to get it in.”
Maki Takada scored 15 to lead Japan (1-1).