It's on to Disney World for the Dream Team, a heavy favorite to claim Olympic gold medal in men's basketball.
The Dream Team showed the Greek national team on Sunday why its the favorite with a 128-62 triumph before a sellout crowd of 36,702 at the RCA Dome as it dominated every statistic by a wide margin.Sparked by hometown favorite Reggie Miller, the U.S. Olympic squad jumped to a 20-3 lead in the game's opening four minutes and was never challenged.
It was the most one-sided decision by Dream Team III, which now heads to Orlando for the final phase of its pre-0lympic preparations. The U.S team of NBA all-stars opens its Olympic schedule against Argentina on Saturday in Atlanta.
"We came out at the beginning of the game ready about business, working on the defense. Today, finally showed where we have to be defensively," said Dream Team coach Lenny Wilkens. "We've been working on it and we're getting better every day. The best thing about the five games that we played is we're just now getting a feel for each other."
Miller, whose possible defection from the Indiana Pacers as an unrestricted free agent has been the subject of much speculation in the city where he's played his entire nine-year career, scored the game's first basket on a fast break layup and had seven of his team's first nine points.
The Dream Team had a 27-2 advantage in fast break points. Miller led the way with 21 points, including a 3-pointer at the buzzer. His total was the most by any member of the team in the exhibition series.
"The fans have always treated me with much respect here in Indiana. I do think we have the best fans in the professional game," Miller said. "To have 35,000 plus, it was a great moment."
The Greeks, who were 6-3 in previous exhibition games, never drew closer than 11 points after the USA's early spurt.
Helped by nine first-half steals, including three by Miller, the Dream Team led 74-34 at halftime, shooting 62 percent (26-of-42). Greece shot 34.5 (10-of-29) in the opening half and was outrebounded 28-15.
The Dream Team had six players finish in double figures. Karl Malone had 19, followed by Grant Hill with 15.
"We're very confident that we're going in, and we're going to win," said Charles Barkley, never one to sound like he lacks confidence. "They may consider it arrogrant. We're going to go in and we're going to win the gold medal."
"Coach wanted me to come out and get things started," said Gary Payton, a late addition to the Dream Team after Milwaukee's Glenn Robinson withdrew due to injury. "We have a great team and we have our eyes on the gold medal. Winning the gold and playing for your country is a great honor and will always be good memories for me."
Fragiskos Alvertis led Greece with 14 points. Theofanis Christodoulou was the only other player in double figures for Greece,, which opens its Olympic schedule against Yugoslavia on Saturday with 11 points.
The Dream Team outscored its five exhibition opponents 570-355 and its only-close game was its opener against a USA Select team of college stars, which led by 17 at halftime before losing 96-90.
Miller was the leading scorer in the five games with 71 points, followed by Mitch Richmond and Malone with 62.