ISTANBUL, Aug 8 (AFP) - The United States beat Turkey 79-67 in its penultimate warmup game for the Athens Olympics on Sunday but once again showed lapses in defence and an inability to counter the three-point shot.
Having crushed medal contenders Serbia-Montenegro on Friday, the collection of young NBA stars started confidently against a Turkish side missing two of its key players, Hidayet Turkoglu of the Orlando Magic and Mirsad Turkcan from CSKA Moscow.
The Americans were held to 19-18 advantage at the end of the first quarter before Tim Duncan's power and Allen Iverson's fast reactions proved deadly in the second as a series of dunks and a handful of interceptions left the Turks trailing 41-29 at half-time.
But Larry Brown's team has shown a shaky defence of the three-point line - which is closer to the basket in the international game compared to the NBA - and despite Duncan scoring eight of his 16 points in the third quarter, Turkey struck back with accurate shooting from behind the line by the game's top scorer Ibrahim Kutluay and Serkan Erdogan.
The US team tightened its defence in the final quarter after the Turks had closed the gap and despite Kutluay's 19-point haul, the latest incarnation of the Dream Team recorded its third straight win.
The US plays its final match, also against Turkey, on Tuesday before heading for Athens.